Sweet Pea's Story
by BlodreinaBeauty
Summary: Sweet Pea has a background that none of us know about. What happens when his long lost sister returns to tent city? What ever happened to his parents? Why does he wear a dog tag around his neck? What is his real name and why is he called Sweet Pea? This is all about Sweet Pea's story: him and the Serpents, him and Josie and others. This takes place before and during season 3. AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Sweet Pea's sister shows up out of nowhere. This is exploring Sweet Pea's background and story. He lives alone in his tiny trailer in Tent City. This will be several chapters long. Suggestions are welcome. Please review! When his sister shows up, what will he do?**

**Sweet Pea POV.**

**Chapter One.**

Thoughts of Josie run through my mind. She is all I want when I wake up in the morning. I roll over in my tiny ass bed, wishing I could have that beautiful woman by my side. She made me feel good. Knowing that I would always have someone there, made me feel good. Now, knowing that I am always alone, I have to clutch to the Serpents more than ever.

I roll over and step out of bed, washing my face in the tiny sink. I flip my greasy hair back and groan as my morning glory doesn't at all satiate. I lean against the wall of my trailer, looking around the messy situation that I have going on in here. I have to clean up this place. I start with the clothes on the floor and throw them on my bed. Then I grab some of my dishes and put them in the sink. At least I can pick some stuff up off of the floor.

Then I hear a knock on the door.

I look down and see that I am all good in the morning glory department and open the door. Jones.

"What is the Serpent King himself doing at my door?" I ask.

"I need you on duty tomorrow. And…what the hell is going on here?" he asks, looking in my trailer.

"Nothing, man," I say with a shrug.

"Nothing? Why does your trailer look like a bomb went off?" he asks. "Dude, come on. Get it together."

"I know, I know."

I look behind me and see a messy, dirty trailer. I tried to fix it but I didn't get very far. I should have fixed it. I should have cleaned it up. But it is just another thing I need to do. My homework. The Serpents. Doing whatever Jones or Betty need me to do. Trying to get Josie back. Losing Fangs to the farm. All the while, trying to feel wanted and needed and loved.

"Is something wrong?" he asks, leaning toward me. He's good. He figures shit out quick.

"I'm good, man," I say.

"Sweet Pea," he says. "I'm your friend. I know I'm not Fangs but come on. You can tell me what's going on."

"A lot," I mutter.

"What do you need from me?" Jones asks. "Do you want less time on the field? Do you need me to replace my right hand? I get it if there is too much on your plate."

He actually wants to help me. Why would he want that?

"No," I say right away. That is the last thing that I want to do. I need the Serpents. I need Jughead. And I need to be his right hand. Otherwise, I have nothing left. "I can still do that. I just…I haven't talked to my family in a while. Fangs is wrapped up in the farm and Josie is ignoring every text and call that I give her."

"Sweet Pea," Jones says.

I look up at him, realizing that I am rambling. He knows that I am upset but I don't normally show that. He knows me too well.

"I get that losing Fangs and Josie sucks," he says. "I know what it's like. But listen, they are not gone forever and you have plenty of people around you. Come on, man. You have the Serpents. Hang out with Betty and I today."

Good idea. I need to relax and hang out with other people like the Serpents, maybe just not on duty all the time.

"Get dressed," he says with a grin. "And clean the hell out of your place, Sweet Pea."

I nod. He's right. I really should.

"Meet us at Pop's tonight at seven," he says.

"Sure," I say.

Jughead turns to leave and I grab his arm. He turns back around, shocked. I am surprised at myself too. It hurts a little, knowing that I'll be alone again. I hate being alone and that is all I ever am.

"Thank you," I say.

He nods.

"You're my right hand man," he says. "No need to thank me."

I nod before he leaves. I close the door and get myself together, throwing on a shirt and pants. I put my jacket on over my arms and fix up my space. I have to put my clothes away, wash the dishes, scrub down the toilet and fix the few things that have broken or that I have just thrown around. After it's all fixed, it makes me feel a little better. I fix the pictures of my sister and mom on my side table and the American flag on my window. Then I dust off the blinds and the top ridge of the trailer.

I get a text from Betty.

Betty: You coming to dinner with Jug and I tonight?

Me: yeah. That ok?

Betty: Definitely.

I sit around most of the day, bored, watching stuff on my phone and working out. After I have done my fifth set of pull ups, I decide to be done. I can't stand just sitting around here. Not hanging out with Fangs or Josie, I have no one else and it just makes me feel worse. My phone dings.

Betty: I have someone that is looking for you.

Me: Who?

Betty: Come to Serpent thrones.

I slip my shoes on and lock the trailer behind me. I will not have someone stealing my shit. It's valuable to me. I jog across tent city until I get to the center where the thrones are. Betty is standing across from me, facing someone else that I cannot make out. Jughead is on the other side, talking to the same person.

"What's going on, Betty?" I ask.

Jughead looks up at me and Betty turns around, still blocking the person that is between them. Jones puts his hand on her and then nods, walking over to me. I try to jog over but he puts his hand on my shoulder.

"Sweet Pea, something happened," he says.

"What?" I demand.

"I need you to promise that you won't freak out and try to kill someone," he says.

"Alright, yeah, I promise," I say. "What's going on?"

I'm scared suddenly. This has to do with me. This is real. I squeeze my hands into fists, trying to look over Jughead and at whomever Betty is talking to.

"Should I tell him?" Jughead asks, looking over his shoulder. Betty turns around and nods, looking sympathetic and so sorry. I want to ask her what is wrong but I think they are going to tell me anyway.

I try to look at whoever that is a couple of times before Jughead squeezes my shoulder and looks me dead in the eyes.

"Sweet Pea," he says. "I'm so sorry. Your mom died."

**Hope you guys like it. Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sweet Pea and his sister talk about what happened with his mother. Jug and Betty comfort Sweet Pea and his sister. Who is your favorite Serpent? Mine are Jug, Betty and Sweet Pea!**

**Chapter Two.**

Crushing weight.

That is what it feels like when he tells me that my mother is dead. Pain in my chest. That is what it feels like when I realize that I will never see her again. Shaking hands. That is what happens when I understand that I will never hug her again. Crying. That is what happens when the mysterious person with Betty looks at me.

My sister.

Missy runs across the space between us and jumps into my arms. I gather her close to me, holding her much smaller frame to my body. I hold her as close as I can. I let her rest her head on my chest. I let her sob. I sob into her too. I cry so hard that my chest aches and my body starts to convulse. It hurts… bad. I squeeze all of the pain into her. I hold Missy so tightly, not even caring that some of the other Serpents are around us.

I see them then. They all come into view. I sniffle, stand up straight but keep Missy in my arms. Jughead puts his hand on my shoulder and Betty comes around to my side. Then I feel a couple of the others hugging me too. We all stand there for a few minutes, hugging and breathing deeply. I try really hard not to cry anymore. I hate it. It hurts so bad and crying only makes it worse. It makes it hurt so bad.

"We're here for you, Sweet Pea," Toni says beside me. I nod as a thank you because I can't handle speaking the words out loud. I can't talk. I don't want to say anything and have my words fumble into more fear, more tears. I can't handle that right now. It's stupid and it's so weak but I don't care because I need it.

"Let's give them some space, Serpents!" Jughead says loudly. They all scatter. Toni smiles and squeezes my arm before she walks away, nodding. I can't my voice work. I try to thank her but it just cracks so I can't say anything at all. Betty and Jones don't leave.

"We can give you guys some space," Jug says.

I clear my throat and run my arm across my face. I remove the tears and throw my shoulders back, realizing that I am standing in front of the queen and king of my gang. I should pull it together but damn, I haven't felt pain like this in a long time.

"Wait," I say, swallowing hard. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"Missy knows," Betty says. "I thought maybe she'd want to tell you."

Missy shakes her head. I turn to her and she looks sad. I can't ask her to talk about this. Maybe she doesn't need to hear about it either. I haven't seen her cry since the day I left living with them. That was the first and only time I have ever seen it. I think I cry more than she does. She's so much tougher than everything I know.

Right now, she needs some space.

"I'm gonna bring Missy back to my trailer," I say. "You guys come over in about an hour? I need to talk to you outside."

They both nod.

"We'll be there, Sweet Pea," Betty assures.

I nod and walk away, back toward my trailer with Missy at my side, wrapped in my arm and against my side. She doesn't talk. She walks with me in complete silence, even when we get to my trailer. I open the door, glad I cleaned up this morning and let her in. She walks in, looking around and then looks at the bed. I nod to her so she sits down, resting her hands in her lap. I walk over and put my arm around her.

"Want to talk about it?" I ask her.

She shakes her head.

"I'm tired," she says.

I nod.

"I know," I say. "Me too."

I let her lean back on the bed.

"I don't want to kick you out of your own bed," she says.

"Nah, it's okay," I say with a grin. "I can sleep later or on the couch if I need to."

She nods, closing her eyes. I push her black hair away from her face as she begins drifting off. I lift up the dogtag that dangles from her neck. It's the other one to the one that I have. I can't believe that she's still wearing it after all of this time. It makes me smile a little bit.

Tears fall down her eyes. I want to help her. I want to make her feel better but I have no idea how. We are both hurting and very confused as to what we are going to do now.

"Goodnight," I whisper to her.

I get up and go outside to sit on the step of my trailer. I grab a beer from the outside six pack I leave under my trailer. It's probably stupid but I want it so I don't care. I take a long hard swig.

I wait just a few minutes before I see Jug and Betty walking up to meet me. The dark sky looms over us. The only light I have is from the flickering light on my trailer and the bright moon that never fails us.

Jug gives me a sad expression and then sits beside me. Betty pulls up a crate I always leave out and sits down beside me. I look down at my hands, squeezing the beer bottle a little tighter. Jug looks down at the beer and then at my face.

"What?" I ask.

"Come on, Sweet Pea," he says.

He's right. This is stupid and pathetic. I don't need this to figure out what I am doing or what's going on. I need to calm down myself. I need to learn to be okay on my own or okay with the Serpents. But counting on something else is not the way to go, no matter how much my chest hurts and my eyes ache.

"You're right," I say, tossing the bottle to the ground. Betty gives me a warming smile that is a little bit comforting. I'll take just about anything at this point.

"So…what happened?"

"She didn't tell you?" Betty asks.

I shake my head.

Betty and Jones look at each other and then back to me.

"Missy found your mom at home. She had a needle in her arm and…she was gone, Sweet Pea. She overdosed on heroine," he says.

Fuck.

I put my head in my hands and sit there for a few minutes before the pain comes back. It is so heavy and so painful that it is crushing my very soul. I feel two hands on my back. Sobs wrack my body when it all comes down at one time.

"Missy said she called the police and they located you. She said she came straight here after that," Jughead says. I can hardly hear him.

"You're okay," Betty says. "Missy is okay. It's good that you guys are back together. I'm so sorry that this happened, Sweet Pea."

Then I realize that I am not at all alone. The Serpents will always have my back. Missy will always be there in the background. My King and Queen will always protect me, as I will protect them.

Neither of my friends leave me as all of the pain of the events come crashing down.

**Who is your favorite Serpent? Mine are Jug, Betty and Sweet Pea. Thanks guys!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sweet Pea talks to his sister about what went on at home and about the Serpents.**

**Chapter Three.**

After an easy breakfast, Missy sits with her legs crossed over each other, her small body somehow even smaller than before. She places her hands in her lap, constantly looking down at them. I try not to notice but she always has her shoulders slumped over. That shirt she has on has holes in the side and the armpits. It is practically falling off of her shoulders. I don't need my baby sister to have dank clothes. Her shorts are looking rough too, stained and filled with rips. Plus, it's not exactly summer anymore. She needs long pants, a jacket, maybe some boots without holes or the soles falling off of them.

"What is going on back home, Missy?" I ask.

She shrugs.

But I will not accept that answer. I left her because she refused to come with me but I also left because I couldn't handle living with them, the craziness anymore. I still can't even think about what was going on in that house. Maybe I shouldn't have left but when someone is drowning, you are only supposed to help them, not get pulled under too.

"Come on," I beg her. "Your clothes are falling apart. You're too skinny and I'm pretty sure you had those same shoes before I left."

She shrugs again. I cannot take this answer. I have to know what has been going on and how I have to fix it now.

"I'm sure Betty will lend you some stuff," I say. She scoffs and then bows her head at me.

"That girl? She wore a pink skirt and a button up shirt underneath of that Serpent jacket," she says with a short laugh. It is nice to hear her laugh again. She scrunches up her small nose and pulls her thin shoulders toward each other. "Not exactly my style."

"True," I agree with a smile. "Toni's then."

"A little too punk for me but I guess it'll do."

Then there is a deep silence between us. It hurts so bad that I don't think I know what to do about it. But then I have an idea, the idea that I really need to tell her that I love her and that I am sorry.

"Look Missy, I am so sorry that you found mom like that," I say. "I never wanted to hurt you when I left. I wanted you to come with me."

"I never blamed you for leaving," she says. But I do. I will always blame myself for leaving her alone. But I couldn't take that anymore. I couldn't take knowing I had to deal with mom and take care of my sister. No way.

"I know," I say quietly.

"It was bad finding mom," she whispers, sniffling a little bit. I reach over and put my hand on hers, letting her look down at both of us. "She was asleep, on her bed with needles in her arm. She didn't look good. So I checked her pulse. I called 911 but I knew what was really going on. I knew she was gone."

I nod.

"Missy…"

I can't find the right words. I can't seem to get them out of my mouth. It hurts to think of my mom like that. But it hurts more to think that Missy found her like that.

"It's okay, Sweet Pea," she says with a grin. "It's not so bad. At least, I'm back here with you."

"I never wanted to hurt you when I left. I just couldn't handle mom and the drugs. I wanted to beg you to come with me but you never listened. It hurt every day knowing that you wouldn't come home to me but I didn't know what else to do," I admit.

She rolls her eyes and shakes her head.

"You didn't know what to do after Aces was gone," she says.

I shake my head. She better not talk about that. I haven't told a single person here. I haven't even thought about it unless I am alone. That wound is still so raw, so painful. I can't even imagine thinking about it with her around, not being able to control my emotions: my fear and anger.

"Let's not do that right now, Missy," I say. "Some wounds are not ready for healing."

She just nods. "So…what about these Serpents?"

"They're great. The best," I say.

I can count on them for anything and everything. They are the best thing that has ever happened to me.

"What are they exactly?" she asks.

"A gang who protects Riverdale and serves justice on anyone who breaks the law or doesn't follow moral standards," I say. "It's actually a great thing. It keeps us all pretty in line."

"I'm sure it does," she agrees. "Jughead and Betty are your leader?"

"Yeah," I agree.

We sit there in silence for a while. But my mind races to Aces. That last knock on the door. Mom in the background. The way she got so angry and so upset. The two years that she was sober meant nothing all of the sudden. The way that the officers looked at us. What they handed me. What we shared together and how it all made me feel.

"Sweet Pea," Missy says, shaking me out of my thoughts. They were pretty bad anyway. They still hurt even when I try to avoid them.

"Yeah?" I ask.

"Everything ok?"

I nod.

"Maybe they could use one more member?" she asks.

I don't want my sister joining the Serpents but I don't want her leaving either. Maybe this is a better idea than I thought. I stand up walking over to her, trying to keep my anger in check, though I know that is not always easy to do.

"Can we just cool it?" I ask.

"What?"

"I don't need you joining my gang the second you show up," I say, getting out of check.

"Hey! I thought you wanted me here! I am old enough to join a gang!" she shouts.

"I don't care! That is not what this is about!"

"You can't leave me alone here all the time! You are always with them," she argues.

"Ugh…come on," I say, throwing my head back.

"Let's just talk to the rest of the gang…see what they think," she says. I can't deny her everything and she is in so much pain right now. When I was in this much pain, I joined the Serpents right away. I needed somewhere to belong, other people to like me too. I guess it is only fair that I give her a shot.

"Maybe," I mutter.

She rolls her eyes, just something an annoying little sister always does and then she looks up at me.

"Come on, William," she says.

I grin but scold her. "You know I hate it when you call me that."

**OOOOhhhh. What do you guys think? Thanks for the reviews!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sweet Pea and Missy talk to Jug and Betty about the Serpents and what it takes to be one of them.**

**Chapter Four**

"These are too big," Missy tells me, handing out a shirt out of my door. I take it from her without looking at what I am assuming is my sister in nothing but a bra. I take it and hand her another one, keeping my eyes closed. She takes it and the door shuts. I wait with my arms crossed over my chest. I like having Missy home again but there are things I can't do with her here anymore.

Josie texted me last night. I wanted nothing more than to lay her down, be with her, forget every ounce of pain and have the worlds best sex right there. And for a moment, I really thought that I was going to. But then I looked over to the bed and saw Missy, laying down with her body curled up and her arm over her head. I couldn't be with Josie because I had nowhere to be with her.

"This is still too big but I think it's okay," she says. She comes out of the trailer, holding her arms over her chest and looking at me for approval. She has on one of Toni's shirts. It's too big for her. One of her straps is falling off. I can see her shoulder bone, her collar bone and I think I can even see her breast bone from the ridge of the top of her grey shirt. Her jeans are ripped and too big. She has one of my belts on around her hips.

I try not to laugh when I see that she took my belt.

"Um…Missy, is that my belt?" I ask.

She nods.

"Okay. We'll get you some clothes that fit…or maybe a couple of cheeseburgers," I mutter as I pull her from the trailer.

I throw my jacket on over my white shirt and walk beside her further into tent city. Before I can even get to Jug and Betty, I see Josie. She has her arms over her chest, looking sassy but hot as hell. She's so hot, if my sister weren't with me, I would grab her and push her into my trailer. I would barely have time to rip her clothes off before making her mine.

I want to be with her again.

"Sweet Pea, you are always the one that calls me so when I call you, I'd appreciate if you—"

"Josie," I say, interrupting her before she gives away way too much information for my sister to know. I nudge my sister and grab Josie's hand, pulling her closer to me. "This is my sister, Missy. I don't think you two have met. Missy, this is Josie, my friend from school."

"Friend from school?" Missy asks.

"Yeah," Josie agrees with a fake smile. Some people know about our summer fling but not many people know that we have been together a few times after that.

"Right," Missy says with a grin in my direction.

"Why don't you go talk to Jones and Betty about the Serpents or something?" I ask. "I want to talk to Josie for a second."

Josie crosses her arms over her chest, rolling those big brown eyes and turning her head to the side. Missy rolls her eyes too and then turns to tent city, walking through the middle of it. I can't help but watch as she walks away because those jeans are really falling off of her. I don't get how she got like this. Her face looks hallow. Her eyes are always dark. Her body is shaken, never strong enough.

Why?

"Hey, Sweet Pea," Josie says. "I didn't realize your sister was here. You could've told me that last night."

"I didn't want it to seem like I was just making excuses because believe me…I wanted to be with you," I say, putting my hand on her side. She pulls away a little, crushing my heart like a vice grip around it. It hurts. I try not to show it, shrugging it off like I do everything.

"So why don't you?" she asks. "Missy is over there. We have a couple of minutes."

I shake my head.

"I can't, Josie," I say.

"Why not?" she asks.

I don't want to tell her everything. I trust her. I want her to be with me. I want her to trust me too but that means that I might break if I tell her what really happened. If I tell her what is really going on, it will all come back to me and the pain will continue.

"Because I would be using you to forget a lot of other things right now. I don't think that's fair to you so I'm not going to do it," I say.

"What do you mean?" she asks.

"I mean…I just…Josie, I want to be with you but I want to be with you in ways that you don't. I am already attached to you. If we have sex right now, I will be way more attached than I already am and I know you don't want that," I tell her.

She nods, looking down at the ground like she always does. She shrugs and then drops her arms from her chest.

"I understand," she says. I am hoping so hard that she says she wants to be with me anyway. I want to beg her to pull me close, to kiss me, to never let go and make me feel good. But she looks up with a sad smile on her face.

"Maybe another time," she says with a nod and turns around.

I shake my head. I have to tell her something. I can't just let her go.

"Josie!" I shout.

She turns around.

"Is that a promise?" I ask.

She smiles and I take that as my answer before I watch her walk away. I catch up to Missy, barely listening as Jones tells her all about the Serpents but I am not listening. I am thinking about Josie and when I get to be with her again.

Betty puts her hand to my arm. I look over at her while Jughead talks to Missy.

"Yeah?" I ask.

"Why is she so thin? She looks sick," Betty says.

"I know. I don't think she was eating that much with my mom. My mom was a druggie. I didn't think it was that bad but I guess there was a lot I didn't know."

"She needs to be eating more," Betty says.

"I'll make sure she does," I agree.

"I can help get her some clothes that actually fit and don't you think she should go to school?" she asks.

"Oh, right," I say. "I don't even know if she was going to school back home."

"We need to take care of her," Betty says.

I nod, not sure what to say.

The Serpents are always so willing to help their own. I can see that now. Maybe I don't need a useless booty call. Maybe I just to embrace what I already have.

"Don't worry, Sweet Pea," Betty says. "We've got her."


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks for all the love guys! This fanfic does not have a ton of views like my other ones but the viewers that I do have are quite enthusiastic and loyal! Thanks!**

**Sweet Pea has a nightmare about Aces. Maybe we learn a little more about him?**

**Chapter Five**

I can see him standing there: blood on his stomach, his arm hanging from nothing but a few skin threads, his other hand wrapped around his riffle. He's shooting at someone that is apart from him. This wasn't supposed to happen. He was supposed to be safe. He was supposed to be okay here. But then this happened. There was an attack.

They didn't know about it.

I'm confused. I'm scared.

I don't understand what I am watching. But then I see it: Aces. He is shooting, loosing too much blood. One of the evil men turn around. He begins shooting in his direction. Aces grins, holding onto his weapon and shoots back with everything that he has. He is alone. Why is he alone? I can't find anyone else.

They are shooting at each other but Aces goes down, keeps shooting and the other man goes down too. Then he lays there on the ground, alone, bleeding out.

He looks over at me. He wasn't alone. I'm here with him? But how? He reaches his hand out for me. His other arm is practically gone. He looks in my direction with that smile that I always recognize as warm and hopeful. Then he nods and dies right there in front of me.

"Aces!" I shout. I run over to his body, screaming, trying to help him but it is too late. Why didn't I help him earlier? Why didn't I get him out of here? His eyes are going dark. He's gone.

He's gone and I did nothing.

That's when I wake up. It's always when I wake up. When I realize that I can't do anything and that I'm useless, that's when I wake up. I hold onto my chest when the pain comes like I know it will. I clench my shirt in my hand as hard as I can. It hurts so bad it brings tears to my eyes. I hold onto my dogtag instead. I hold onto it tight enough to make dents in my hand. When I feel like I can grip reality again, I stand up, wiping my face down with my hand and looking over at my sister.

Who is awake.

Shit.

"Missy," I say, stuttering over it. "Are you okay?"

"I should be asking you that," she says. "I didn't realize you were still having those dreams."

I shrug.

"I didn't realize you were still wearing his bracelet," I say.

"He was my brother too," she argues.

I shake my head. I can't have this conversation right now. She's right but I just don't want to talk about him. I never talk about him with anyone. Here, no one knows that he exists.

"Just go back to sleep," I say. "I'm fine."

She nods and then shrugs. She lays back down and closes her eyes. After a few seconds when her breathing gets heavy and her head tilts to the side, I grab my phone, texting Josie. I need her tonight. I don't need to think about Aces. I don't need to think about Missy. I just need to be with Josie, who makes me feel good and forget the bad.

Josie texts me seconds later.

"Your place?" she asks.

"Occupied," I text. "But I have a tent."

"I'll be there."

I wait just twenty minutes before I get a text from her, telling me that she is here. I sneak out and close the door as quietly as I can behind me. I see her waiting outside with her hands crossed over her chest.

"Hey, there," she says with a grin.

"Hey," I say back, coming over to her. I put my hands on either side of her waist and pull her close. I kiss her for a long cool minute. She kisses back but pulls away all too quickly.

"What?" I ask her.

"Something's wrong," she says.

"What?" I ask.

"Something's wrong. I know it. I know you, Sweet Pea. Something is up," she says. "What is it? Is it those dreams again?"

What? I never told her about any dreams. I wouldn't tell anyone this, even her.

"What dreams?" I ask, trying to look as if I don't care. She smiles a little but it is that look that says she sees right through me and she already has the perfect thing to say lined up. It scares me but I think maybe I should be comforted by the fact that I am not alone.

"The ones about Aces," she says.

I step back away from her. I get as far away as I can for a few steps. She reaches out, surprised by my reaction and her eyes go wide. I shake my head, looking down at her with complete fear.

"What are you talking about?" I ask.

"I'm sorry," she says seriously, keeping her hand out between us. "I didn't know it was a secret, Sweet Pea. We slept together and I heard you sometimes."

"What? How? I always wake up when I have those dreams," I say.

She looks down at her hand that I still haven't taken and drops it. She takes a step closer to me, but I am still holding my ground. I don't know why she knows about this but it is freaking me out.

"Well…I would talk to you, tell you where you were and who you were with and you would always stop," she explains.

"You stopped the nightmare?" I ask.

She shrugs and then gives me a little smile.

"I think so," she says and then her smile widens. "Yeah."

I can't be mad or scared anymore. I reach over and pull her close, giving our long kiss an even longer touch. I pull her around her waist as close to me as we can get.

I kiss her for a while before she pulls me toward the tent beside my house. Fangs used to stay there but he hasn't been here for a long time. It's just us now. I kiss her down her neck, across her chest and start pulling her clothes off. I forget the entire world when I lose myself in the perfection that is her body. I kiss down her stomach to rip off what is left of her clothes. She pushes my boxers from me before we are one, kissing, moaning and groping at the other person. I roll her underneath of me, putting my arm under her body and kiss her neck as we make the other feel good.

I feel nothing but good.

I feel nothing but everything that I need right here with me. Her hands go in my hair. Her legs go around my waist. Her body is pressed right against mine. I press into her, harder, faster and she looks up at me, her eyes going wide. Her head tilts back. I do this for just a few more seconds, grinding against her and she starts to call out my name. It is a good thing we are far enough away from the other tents because she gets loud.

"Sweet Pea! Sweet…Sweet!" then it just fades out to something like: "Sweet…Jesus…Oh my god."

And that's when I can feel myself being complete. It all comes crashing down. Just seconds after she is falling down from her high, trying to catch her breath, I am on my own. I put my hand in her hair and squeeze when my pleasure reaches its peak.

I pull away and rest on my side, pulling her close to my chest. She puts her head there and swirls her finger on my arm. It makes me smile. I relax as I catch my breath.

"That was…" she trails off.

"Yeah," I agree.

After a while, we lay here, trailing off, not really talking about much and feeling nothing but pleasure, she tugs at my tag and tries reading it. I grab it from her and turn away, grabbing my boxers and slipping them back on. She looks at me with a huff.

"Come on, Sweet Pea," she begs. "You can't hide from everyone all the time. You have to share something."

I shake my head.

"I'm not ready," I say.

"What? When did you come to Riverdale?"

"When I was fourteen," I say with a shrug, glad we are talking about anything else.

"So you've had almost four years. Right?" she asks.

"Josie, please," I beg.

"Alright," she says, throwing her hands up. I turn to her defeated expression. She holds out a finger in Josie fashion, pointed in my direction for her point.

"But when you are ready to talk about, which I know you have to be soon…you have to tell someone. Me. Your sister. Fangs. Even Jughead. You just have to tell someone, Sweet Pea," she begs.

I know she's right.

"Okay," I agree.

I have to tell someone. Aces deserves to be remembered.

**Any guesses as to who Aces was or what he did or how he died? I'd love to hear it!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks guys! Enjoy!**

**Chapter Six**

This time Aces is standing in the center of an intersection. He's home. He's here so he should be okay. Why would he stand there? He shouldn't be standing there. There are cars all over. He could be hurt. He could be dead if he stands there.

I reach out to grab him but he pushes me back.

"No," he says.

"What?" I ask him.

"Get back," he says.

I reach out for him again. The light turns green. Cars start going. They honk at him, throw their middle fingers toward him, wave their fists in the air to get him to get out of the middle of the road. Some even go around him but then a man comes flying from across the street and slams right into Aces. Aces goes flying across the street. He flops from one car to another and then rolls onto the ground. It happens so fast, like nothing but meat flying through the air and splatting no the ground.

I run over to him and collapse on my knees, putting my hands on his chest. He is bleeding. He looks strange, flat. His arm is dangling off. His face is smashed in. He looks like he is in pain. I want to tell him that he will be okay but he does not look okay at all. He looks like he might die. I reach out to tell him that he will be okay. I reach out to touch him.

He looks over at me. He wasn't alone in death? But I thought he was. How did he die again? Why was he in the middle of the road? Then his eyes go black and his muscles relax.

He's dead.

"Aces!" I shout.

That's when I wake up.

Every damn night now that Missy is back. I roll over and wipe my face off, grabbing my shirt from the floor and throwing it back over my body. It's way too early to get ready for school but I can't handle these kinds of dreams all god damn night. I decide to go for a run. I leave the trailer as quietly as possible and run around tent city. It's a quiet jog. I don't think about anything as I run. I just let the cool hair flip through my hair. I let my body relax into the jog, my lungs fill with air. I let everything go when I run until I see Jughead fumbling out of his trailer as the dawn breaks and the sun begins to rise. I hadn't realized how long I was out here. He rolls out with his hand in his hair, in nothing but his boxers. He looks ridiculous, nothing like a king but it almost makes me laugh. I stop in front of him.

"What the hell are you doing, Sweet Pea?" he asks.

"I couldn't sleep so I decided to go for a run," I say. "What are you doing?"

He chuckles and shakes his head, pushing his hat on over his hair. I see movement behind the windows of the kitchen. Then I see Betty walk across the window and into the room. I look away quickly when I realize she is not wearing much in the way of clothes. It makes me laugh though.

"Hey, Jones," I say with a laugh. "You might want to remind our queen that all of tent city can see her pink bra right now."

His face turns a little red and he turns toward the window, rolling his eyes and opening the door.

"Bets!" he shouts inside. "There's a window there, honey."

"I know," she says. "I can't find my blue button up."

"It's not in the kitchen," he says back.

Their encounter makes me laugh even more. I wish I had someone like. Someone who knew me so well, someone who is always there, someone who looks out for you. I've almost never seen that before. But it's nice to see it with Jughead.

"I'm gonna go find her shirt," Jughead says with a grin.

"And I'm gonna go get dressed for school," I say, glad that I got out of the conversation.

I turn to leave and then remember something with a smile.

"You two are funny," I say. "Pretty great together. But hey…don't worry too much about finding that shirt for Betty. It's not like we haven't all seen her do the Serpent dance."

Jughead gives me a smirk, like he might say something and then shakes his head.

"Sweet Pea," he says. "Next time you need to talk, just come talk. Don't run around like a psychopath. You're creating a wind current."

During class, I manage to keep control. I manage to remember that it was just a dream and carry on the usual day. I try to avoid any talk about the farm or the musical or anything of that sort. I to forget about Fangs and ignore Missy when she sees me in the hallway. But I secretly watch out for her the entire day.

I actually manage to take a few minutes and relax during my free period in the student lounge.

Then I see him again.

He's in the dessert. He's patrolling with a bunch of other people around him. He has a gun and he's walking just fine. Then there is something going on. Something bad. Signals form other people in the group. Then he looks behind him, takes one step forward and the bomb goes off. He is flown into the air and backwards into another man. They both topple to the ground. Aces rolls off of him, his arm dangling at his side and burns over part of his body.

I'm so confused. Why didn't they tell him to stop? Why didn't they tell him to step away from the bomb? Why did they let him just walk right into it? How did this happen?

Why am I here with him?

I run up to him, realizing that I can move again. I run as fast as I can until finally I am at his side. I look down at his damaged arm, his burned body and try to touch him. He shakes his head. I reach out again but he gives me a smile, like the last smile he will ever give me.

His eyes gloss over, looking blank and staring off into space. His face relaxes. His body falls to the side and he's gone. I am sure he is gone and there is nothing I can do. There is nothing any of them did to help him!

"Aces!" I shout, trying to touch him.

Then he's gone and I am awake.

I sit up and realize I am in the students lounge. The Serpents are all around me. Jughead has his arm around Betty across from us. Fangs is talking with Kevin in the corner. Toni is by my side with Cheryl and Peaches. They are all here.

"Whoa! Sweet Pea," Toni says, putting her hand on my shoulder. I don't even know where I am.

"You okay?" Toni asks.

Josie looks at me from across the lounge. I give her a look back but just shrug and put on that smile that always does charm.

"Thanks," I say. "I'm totally fine."

She nods.

People go on talking with each other but Betty and Jughead look at me with concern. Maybe I should tell someone about this. Maybe I should tell someone about Aces.

**We will find out what really happened soon!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Well here goes nothing! I know it's been a while. Sorry about that. My boyfriend just went off to boot camp and I'm a little out of my mind! But I love to write so I will attempt to do a lot more of it!**

**Chapter Seven**

Aces is standing in front of me this time. He is standing completely still, looking right at me. I am just feet away from him. I am watching him as he holds his hands up in surrender. There is something behind me. But I can't turn around. I try to turn around but Aces takes another step closer, grabbing my arm. I try to pull away. I don't know why but I think I should be in front of him. I think I should be the one that is defending him. But instead, he pushes me out of the way.

I turn around toward the assailant and find a man with a gun. He doesn't look like anything special. Just the average, middle aged man with a hand gun. He pulls the trigger right as Aces jumps in front of me. He goes down, blood pooling around his body. I look up to find the man with the gun gone, as if he vanished. I can't see where I am or even what I should be looking for. I look down to see Aces still laying on the ground.

I reach out to touch him, to comfort him in some way. But I fail. I can't get to him. He's moving away. This doesn't make sense. He was right here in my arms and now I can't even touch him. Then he looks back at me, rolling his head to the side.

His eyes light up and he gives me a very small smile. Then his body starts to relax, each muscle, each eye, each part of him relaxes. His head tilts and the life leaves his eyes.

"Aces!" I shout.

But then I wake up.

His name is still on my lips when I sit bolt upright. I put my hand to my chest to feel the tags against my bare skin. I swing my legs across the side of the couch and lean over my knees to relax, catch my breath. I have to make myself breathe quieter when I see Missy rolling over in her sleep. Her eyes slowly start to open. I try to hold my breath, act like everything is fine and wipe the sweat from my face when she turns toward me. Her eyes flutter and then look directly at me.

"What the hell are you doing?" she mutters with half of her face still pressed against the pillow and her hair falling off the edge of the bed. She has kicked the blanket almost all the way off of her. Her legs are sprawled out across the entire bed. She is kind of adorable.

This is the way I used to remember her in our old trailer. This is how I remember waking up with her in the bed, me on the couch beside her. The only difference was our parents screaming in the background from their room or the clambering of dishes from our mother in the kitchen.

"Nothing," I say. "Go back to sleep."

"No," she says. "What's going on, for real? You're being weird lately and everyone else is noticing it too."

I shrug, standing up and grabbing my jeans. I put them on, adjusting my belt as I grab a shirt off of the back of the couch. I don't think it's clean but it's all I have right now.

"I've just been thinking about stuff," I say.

"About what?" she asks.

"Nothing. Go back to sleep. I have Serpent business to deal with," I say, walking through the door and closing it behind me. I don't want to think about her right now and I don't want to talk about what I'm thinking. But maybe she is right. I should talk about it at some point.

I throw the shirt over my shoulder as I walk further into tent city, walking past Fangs on the way by. Jughead is standing outside of his trailer, throwing his shirt on and adjusting his hat on his head.

"Early morning, Jones?" I ask.

He nods and then points to my chest.

"What's that?" he asks.

I look down at the tattoo and fumble for my shirt, grabbing it awkwardly and putting it on over my head to cover it. But it's too late. He already saw it and with how I've been acting lately, they are all going to want to know. Just then, I hear more footsteps coming behind me.

"That's a tattoo of an Ace from a deck of cards," Missy says.

"Missy!" I shout, turning around. She folds her arms over her chest. At least she covered up, wearing jean shorts and a plaid shirt. She has really started to fit in here, which scares me. But honestly, she was in so much danger back at home that she is better off here. She is better off with the Serpent protection and family atmosphere. It just scares me that I have someone from my past here at all.

"Why an Ace?" Jughead asks.

"Because we know someone named Aces," Missy says. "Someone that Sweet Pea here, doesn't want to talk about because it hurts him and me. But to be honest, not talking about it is actually making his life a lot worse. So maybe we should start asking some more questions."

"Questions?" I ask. "Really, Missy?"

"Come on," Missy says. "Just talk about it. Plus, we can honor him through the Serpents, instead of hiding the person that he was, which was a great person, by the way."

"What is this about?" Jughead asks.

I turn to Fangs, hoping he will help me out here. I just can't start talking about something that I have never talked about before. I left right after it happened to avoid talking about it and I never spoke about it here either. Why would I start now?

"Come on, man," Fangs says, trying to be helpful but not in the way that I wanted him to be.

Both Fangs and Jughead look to each other and then back to me.

"We're a family, Sweet Pea. Let's start acting like it," Jones says.

"Fine," I agree, walking over to the closest tree and leaning on it. I don't think I'll be able to stand up during this entire conversation.

"Who is Aces?" Jones asks.

I swallow hard and look up, steadying my voice.

"Was," I correct. "Who was Aces?"

**Next chapter…let's find out!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Sweet Pea finally tells us about his bad boy past! But what exactly is going on at school during this time?**

**Do you guys like this story so far? Any suggestions?**

**Chapter Eight.**

"He died," is the first and only thing that I mange to get out of my mouth. I put my fists on my knees to stand up and push off of the tree. Missy puts her arm out, as if she might grab me and pull me back but I'm too angry to think about this. I just can't.

"I'm sorry, Sweet Pea," Jones says. He reaches out toward me but I shrug him off. "What's going on? Was he your friend? Your dad? Who was he to you and Missy?"

I shrug him off too and start to go back to my trailer. Betty catches up with me and puts her hand on mine. I look down when she stands with me, not saying anything, just standing there, waiting for me to say something. But when I look up, I feel like my heart is crack open and I can't handle that. I can't get any words out at all.

"Sweet Pea," she says. "If it's this bad…you don't have to tell all of us but you have to tell someone."

I nod.

"I will," I say, swallowing hard because it starts to hurt deep in my chest. "Just not right now."

She nods and lets me go into the trailer. I slam the door behind me, trying to push away the anger that comes with not knowing what happened. I turn around slowly, trying to control myself before I punch a hole through my door and find Josie sitting on my couch in my trailer. I jump back, surprised.

"Sorry," she says. "I just thought…we could…it was stupid but if you wanted to—"

"Josie," I say, stepping toward her and holding out my hand. She goes for it, taking it and looking up at me with those beautiful brown eyes. Her sexy body is slender, waiting for me, as she always is. And this morning, I want her just as bad. I don't want to think about anything else.

"I don't want to talk," I say.

"Then shut up," she says back.

I grab her around her thighs, lifting her up and pressing her back against the wall. I slip out of my pants easily, pushing them down far enough to get close to her. I kiss along her neck, her mouth, tear her clothes to get them the hell out of my way. I push her skirt up, pulling her panties aside and eventually just ripping them when they get in my way.

"Josie!" I shout when she starts kissing my neck.

I lift her up higher when I make her mine, holding her against the wall the whole time. Her legs are wrapped around me. Her body is moving with me, trying to get what she wants out of this encounter. We kiss and touch and grope for as long as possible.

"Josie," I start to mumble quietly.

"Sweet Pea," she mutters. "Don't stop."

I don't. I let her have everything until her body is arching onto me and I am finally reaching my limit into her. I grab onto her hair and the wall behind her as our passion reaches its limit.

Then it's over. Just as quickly as it began, it's over. I let her back onto the ground. I adjust my pants and she fixes her skirt back down. We both stand across from each other awkwardly staring, not really sure what to do. It felt amazingly good but now that it's over I feel down so incredibly low that I don't know what to do.

I reach out for her hand but she doesn't take it. She doesn't even look at it.

"Sweet Pea," she says. "Are you okay?"

I look over at her with a questioning expression. "What do you mean?" I ask. That is a weird question to ask right now. I step closer, afraid that she is going to leave.

"You seemed…a little different. Are you okay?"

"No. I mean…I don't know," I mutter, not meaning to say the first thing out loud. But once it is there, it is gone. She presses her lips together the way she always does when she doesn't want to say something out loud. She reaches over to touch me and then looks up at my fearful face.

"I heard the Serpents talking to you before," she says. "Jughead is your friend and so is Fangs…Betty even and your sister knows you. You just have to trust them."

"It's not that I don't trust them," I admit.

"What is it then?" she asks, throwing her hands back down. I want to reach back and have her close but decide not to.

"It's just that I don't want to bring anyone else into the mystery that is Aces," I admit.

"What does that mean?" she asks.

I sigh, realizing that I am not going to get out of this.

"I am the only person that knows the truth. I am the only person that was told the truth and I told everyone else a lie…that means that if I tell them the truth, I am going to have to admit that it's real and that the lie that I have been telling was never true." I pause. "Does any of that make sense?"

"Not a lot," she says with a smile. "But I think you should tell them the truth, even if it means that the lie is gone."

I nod.

She reaches up, kisses my cheek and is gone within seconds. I fix myself, my hair and my clothes before I walk back out of the trailer. When I go back to the center of tent city, Missy is talking to Jones. Betty is with Toni and Fang. They are all eating, talking and going about their days.

"Jones? Fangs?" I ask. "Can I talk to you?"

They both nod. Everyone else looks at each other and then walks away slowly, as if they want to hear what is about to happen. Missy puts her hand on my shoulder and I grab her, pulling her back. I know I don't want her to be here but there is truth here that she needs to know.

"Actually, Missy, you should probably stay," I insist.

She nods and sits next to me.

"You too, Betty."

Betty sits next to Missy. They seem to have been getting along well, which is good for her. I take a deep breath and start small.

"Aces real name was Samual. He was our older brother."

"What happened, Sweet Pea?" Betty asks in that soft tone that she always does.

I pull the tag off of my neck and lay it out for all of them to see.

"The other one is probably with his body," I say. "But I keep this one with me to remember Aces and who he was before he was gone."

**Aces was his brother and presumably in the military! What do you think you know about Aces so far?**


	9. Chapter 9

**This is all about Samual "Aces", who we finally know to be Missy and Sweet Pea's older brother!**

**Chapter Nine**

"He was loyal and brave and honest. He was funny. He always knew what he wanted to do with his life. He wanted to join the Army and go places. He wanted to go far and change lives, save lives. When I was nine, he left for the Army. We saw him when he would come home for leave. When I was fourteen, two men showed up in uniform at my front door. They didn't say what I thought they were going to say. They didn't say what I told my sister and my mother that they said. I told them they said that he was killed in action in Afghanistan. But what really happened is that they came to my door, I answered and they said I'm sorry son, your brother missing in action."

"Missing?" Jones asks.

"Sweet Pea," Betty mumbles.

Fangs puts his hand on my shoulder.

Missy stands up with her hands on her hips looking angry. She takes two steps forward and slaps me across the face. Jones stands up to grab her before she scratches her nails across my cheek. He pulls her back as she screams at me.

"It's okay, Jones," I say. "I deserve that."

"No you don't," he says.

"I do! I lied to her. I lied to my sister about our brother and no matter why I did it…I still lied. She has the right to be mad," I admit.

"Sweet Pea," Jones says, letting Missy go. Betty walks over to her and puts her arm around her. They talk in quiet tones. I am guessing Betty is trying to calm her down enough to get away from me.

"You were trying to protect your sister and your drug addict mother of weeks and months and maybe years of fear of the unknown," Jones says, putting his hand on my shoulder. I nod, trying to believe him but it hurts. It hurts knowing that I hurt my sister by keeping this to myself.

"That's what you've been dreaming about?" Missy asks, turning around. Betty keeps her arm on my sister, trying to tame her as much as possible, which I appreciate.

I look around, trying to forget everyone that is around me.

"Yeah," I admit.

"You've been dreaming about all of the different ways he could have died and you didn't tell us? You didn't tell me that they said they couldn't find him and that was it? They never found him?"

"No," I say. "He was eventually presumed dead."

"Presumed?" she asks.

"I know, Missy. Believe me, I know," I say. "I don't want it to be true either. Why do you think I didn't want to tell you? I didn't want you to feel this way!"

"Then why did you tell me?" she asks, tears running down her face. Now I can feel that pain in my chest again, hurting so bad I don't know if I'll win the battle this time. I bite my lip so hard I draw blood.

"Because you begged me to!" I shout back.

She starts sobbing. Betty catches her, turning her around and trying to help her as she cries, trying to make sense of it all. Betty starts to walk away with her, moving her away from us. I sit back down, running my hand down my face. I feel two people sit beside me but I don't pay attention to them. I am too busy trying to hide tears that I have not felt in a long time.

"She'll be okay," Jones says.

I don't say anything. I can't.

"Is this for him?" Fangs asks, holding out my memorial bracelet.

I nod with my face still covered by my hands.

"And your tag?"

"Is his," I finish for them.

They are clearly trying to put it all together.

"He was nine years older than you?" he asks.

I nod. "And eleven older than Missy," I add. "My mom was sixteen when she had him. Then our dad left for a while. He came back and stuck around for a little bit, long enough to have Missy and I. He left when I was a kid and we never heard from him after that."

"What about your mom? When did the drugs start?" Fangs asks.

"Early on. There were complications with her first pregnancy with Aces. She was given pain killers and she was young and stupid and poor. So she started stealing them when she would run out. She just became addicted to anything after that. When he came back for her, she always went to him because she was an addict and she was weak."

"That's how they had you two?" Jones asks.

I nod.

"And you left right after you heard what happened to Aces?"

I nod again. "The next day. I begged Missy to come with me but she refused. I tried to get her to come but she said she wanted to stay with our drug addict of a mother. She was never abusive or anything so I thought it would be okay. I thought since I knew…"

"Since you knew that Aces was missing and not dead, it would be better to leave so that it felt like you weren't really keeping anything from them?" Jones asks.

I agree again.

"You came here because you knew you could get away?" Fangs asks.

"My dad was a Serpent for a while but he was kicked out for not being loyal. I thought maybe I could be a Serpent too. I came here, I joined and I never looked back. I thought that it would make me feel better. I thought that it would make me forget that I have no idea what happened to my brother and I never will," I say.

That's when the tears come. They're terrible and awful and painful. They are so scary that I I cover my face and lean down, hunching my shoulders. I cry hard, letting all of the emotion out that I have inside.

Jones and Fangs put their hands on my shoulders and we sit together for a few long seconds.

"In unity there is strength," Fangs says.

"In unity there is strength," Jones repeats. I can't quite get the words out. "Telling us was the right thing to do. We are united in the burden you carry, Sweet Pea. Now we can share with you our strength."

**I love writing about the Serpents! Is Aces who you expected him to be? I know a lot of you guessed things very different from what he ended up being but some of you got it right! I'm going to wait until I have 30 TOTAL REVIEWS on this fanfic before I post!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Sweet Pea and the others get into a fight at school with some of the north siders. This is all happening in season 2 after they have already moved to Riverdale high. Any other stories you guys want expanded?**

**Let me know!**

**Chapter Ten**

I lean back in the couch in the student lounge. Toni puts her feet up on the table in front of her. I grin as Jinx pops a large piece of gum in front of his face. All I can think about is what is in front of me because any time I let my mind wander, I am lost in thought about Aces. It felt good to get it off of my chest but it hurt too. It hurt to talk about. It hurt because now it's real and I can never put it away again.

"Sweet Pea," Jinx says, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"What are you doing?" he asks with a grin. I shake my head, trying to clear it.

"You alright?" Jones asks, walking up to us. He has his girlfriend under his arm. Betty gives me a sympathetic look that I try to ignore. She is kind but honestly, I don't want that kind of shit. I just want to forget that I ever lost my shit in front of her. I want to forget that both of them have seen me at my most vulnerable.

"Yeah," I say, shrugging my shoulders. I play with the bracelet on my wrist as a couple of northsiders walk in with their letterman jackets on and their heads held high. Reggie is leading the damn charge. He comes in with his hands on his hips, looking high and mighty as he parts his lips to look at us.

"What the hell is south side scum doing in my lounge?" he asks.

"Oh back off, Reggie," Betty chirps up. I give her a wide grin and turn back to Jones, standing up to get close to Reggie. I am much taller than many of them. My size can intimidate them, at least a little bit.

"I thought we were done with arguing about South Side and North Side," Jones says.

Reggie grins and then looks over at me. I step toward him, pushing my chest right up against his. He doesn't scare me. I kicked his ass once, I'll do it again no problem. The Serpents are still the Serpents, even if we have a couple of north siders on our team.

"We were. Until one of you decided to key my buddies car," Reggie says.

"What?" I ask. "No one keyed your car, man. Just get out of here."

"No! I know you did it."

"What proof do you have?" Betty asks, stepping toward them. I want to push her behind me, telling her not to get herself into trouble but then decide not to. Jones will try to keep her in line. She always tends to get defensive about us, which I can appreciate.

"I know you did it, Serpents! You're mad because you have to share so much space…the Gargoyles, the north side, the farm…you don't have land or a stance here so now you want to tag your turf!" Reggie shouts.

"Reggie, calm down," Betty says again.

"Yeah, you need to back the hell up before I make you," I demand. He laughs and I punch him across his jaw. He punches me back so I grin and start fighting. It is a fist fight between the two of us when Jones throws the next punch. I hear more rustling around me. Reggie and I are in a full blown fight, trying to get the other to the ground. I have size on him but he's pretty strong.

I am able to cut him down to size, make him submit to me until I hear the principal shouting at us.

"Hey! What the hell is going on here?" he asks.

We all stop fighting. I remove Reggie from me, shoving him off. Jones stands up and fixes the side of his jacket. Toni flips her hair back. Fangs comes tumbling in from the door, staring at me. I give him a look. He's never here when we need him anymore.

"Mr. Jones. Ms. Topaz and Mr. Mantel, get in my office. Now!" he shouts. They follow him but then he stops at the door, looking at the school security. He looks back at us and gives us a stern look.

"Get the Serpents out of my school. They're all out for the day!" he shouts again.

"Are you serious?" I say back as one of them specifically comes toward me. I am getting shoved out of the way, toward the door and then out of the front door of the school. But on my way by, I make sure to give Fangs a look. He has been more distant every single day. It's like they are taking him from the Serpents all together. That stupid farm is ruining so much around here. With them coming in, the Serpents are losing people and everyone is acting as if the next apocalypse is coming.

"Sweet Pea, right?" the guard asks. We have had a couple of dealings with each other before. I step away from the school but keep my eyes on him, opening my arms toward him as if to say "what?"

"You and I are going to have problems. I know about your previous arrests. If there is another problem around here again, I will make sure the rest of the school knows it too," he says.

What the fuck.

"Sweet Pea!" Jinx says, motioning for me to follow him.

"Threatened by a security cop," I say, throwing my hands up as I start to walk away. "Great."

"Hey, Sweet Pea! Where are you going?" Missy asks. She has her jacket on. I grab her jacket and try to pull it off but she pushes back against me. "What are you doing? Stop it!"

"They are kicking all of the Serpents out of the school for the day. Take that off unless you want that on your record too," I tell her.

"Whatever," she says with a shrug. I grab her arm, pulling her skinny body closer to me. I make her look at me.

"It's not whatever, Missy. You need to go to school. You need to get a good education. Don't throw it away because you want to be cool. That's not what the Serpents are about," I promise her.

She looks serious and nods, taking the jacket off. She hands it over to me and walks back toward the school.

"You can have it back later," I promise.

"See you," she says.

I turn back to walking away when I hear the sweet sound of a velvety voice that makes my knees weak and my body melt.

"Sweet Pea," Josie says. "I hear you're not allowed to go to school today…"

I take a step toward her perfect, slender body covered in nothing but black and tan cat print. I put my hand around her soft waist and pull her close to me as she bites her thick lip.

"Guess not," I whisper, leaning down to her ear. "I got in a fight but I was thinking maybe there's something better I could do with my time."

She giggles and I grab her hand, pulling her with me. I speed all the way back to the trailer with a grin on my face and a problem, pushing against my pants. I throw the door open and rip her clothes off, barely able to close the door before I make her mine again.

**What do you think? The South and North side will never truly get along so I wanted to give a little insight to that here. Also…Sweet Pea is clearly being impulsive due to some sad thoughts he is having about Aces and his mom. Any other stories you want expanded? Let me know!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Here is some fun stuff with Josie and Sweet Pea and his kind side, where he got his name.**

**Is anyone at Riverdale Con in NJ? I'm here and I dressed up as Alice Smith today. I will be here tomorrow too, meeting Jordan Connor. I'm super excited to talk with him and hear what he has to say about Sweet Pea.**

**Chapter Eleven.**

"Damn…" I say, pulling my body away from hers.

"Sweet Pea," she says with a laugh, adjusting her bra and fixing her straps on her shoulders. She smiles as she steps back away from me. I pull my shorts back up and fix my belt, trying to hide a smile small back at her.

"I, uh, I like being with you a lot, Josie," I admit. She presses her lips together. Her smile falls from her face, which worries me. She always gets like this when it's like I am about to admit something to her. She never wants me to tell her that I might actually like her.

"Sweet Pea, we don't have to do that," she says. "I know I'm just a way for you to distract yourself from whatever is going on in that brawny, beautiful head of yours."

I shake my head, grabbing my shirt from the floor. I play with it in my shaking hands. It gives me something to do with my hands so I keep doing it before I gather my thoughts. I'm afraid to tell her. I can't quite get the words out. I'm just afraid that whatever comes out of my mouth, she won't like or maybe I won't be able to say it at all.

"That's not true," I say. "I always thought this could be something more."

She takes another step back but she pulls my heart with her, tugging it in her hands as she goes, hurting it just a little bit more every time she steps away. I try to come toward her but she shakes her head, holding her hand up.

"Wait a second," she says. "Sweet Pea. I told you this was going to be a summer fling. I told you that you and I would have a nice, sexy time together and then it would all be over."

"But what if it doesn't have to be?" I ask, almost begging. It hurts when I see the look on her face and I already know the answer. But I have been so alone for so long. They don't seem to care. No one does. I always thought that Josie would care just a little bit, enough to be with me, enough to make me feel better.

"Josie, I promise to do right by you," I say. "You know I'm a nice guy. You know I can protect you and you know that I am not going to hurt you or break your heart."

She gives me a small smile. She reaches forward and puts her hand on my shoulder. It hurts because it is not a gesture of love. It is a gesture of sadness. She knows what her decision is already.

"I know," she says. "But I have been focusing on my music, Sweet Pea. If I committed to a relationship with you, and then I had to leave you…it would be me that hurt you."

"But at least we would have a chance—"

"Sweet Pea," she says, holding her hand on my shoulder and giving me a look of sympathy that cuts down deep in my heart. It hurts so bad I almost have to bite my lip to forget it. "You have lost so much already. I can't take that from you too."

I nod and throw my shirt on, suddenly feeling self conscious and weird about being naked around her. I flip my hair away from my face. I sit down on the edge of my bed and look over at her. She gives me a look and walks over to sit down next to me. It surprises me but I kind of like it. She sits down and leans close to me. Her warmth is gentle and soft against me, which makes me want her even more. I want to pull her close, lose myself in her and make her feel good. But more than that I don't want her to leave. Then it will be cold and scary and lonely.

"The Serpents are your family, Sweet Pea. Music is mine. We both need our families more than we ever have before right now. We have a place to be and that isn't with each other. We had a wonderful time together but I don't think we can keep doing this," she says. "I can't always count on you because you have to be a right hand to Jughead, a friend to Betty and a brother to Missy."

"Missy doesn't want me," I say with a shrug. I don't know why I'm telling her this. I just feel like I can. "She wants to be a part of the Serpents. She wants to fit in but she doesn't want me. I'm the guy who left her a few years ago."

"Left her? Sweet Pea, you tried to bring her with you. You tried to help her. You tried to get her to come here but she refused. You did what you could. Now that she is here, you can do more. You can be her brother and she will let you," she insists.

Maybe. But it doesn't feel that way.

"Betty and Jughead don't really need anyone but each other," I admit.

"Maybe," she says. "But they both lead a gang, go to school, and investigate all of the crazy stuff that goes on around this town. When they can't be together, when they can't work together, they need a right hand. They need someone they can always count on to be there and to do the right thing. I know you're that guy."

"Maybe I don't want to be," I say.

She shakes her head but gives me a smile that I cannot resist. I lean close to her, almost as if I was going to kiss her but decide not to. I can't kiss her and not sleep with her. If I kiss her, and I feel a clenching in my heart, I know I won't want to let her go. I know I'll want her to be mine and all she'll want is sex.

I can't give into that forever.

"You want to be something more than a sidekick?" she asks.

I nod.

"Me too," she says. "We have to make our own stories, Sweet Pea."

"What does that mean?" I ask. "I can't go back to school. Fangs is in the farm. The Serpents aren't in real trouble right now. You're leaving me. Missy is back. My mom is dead and—"

"Sweet Pea!" she says, putting her hand to the side of my face with a smile that calms me right away. She leans close, so close I think I could touch her, hold her against me but decide again, painfully, not to. It hurts but I let it.

"You have to write your own story," she says.

I nod.

"You don't know how to do that right now. You don't have to. But you have to put the effort in to figure it out yourself," she says.

She rests her head on my shoulder. I lean my head down on hers and we sit there for a long moment. The moment feels heavy, as if this is the last one we will get for a while, maybe ever. I take in a long breath and let it out slowly so that it doesn't hurt as bad.

"Josie," I say.

"Hm?"

"Thank you."

That's when I know…this is it. We're over.

**The sweet side of Sweet Pea, which I love! I believe that is where his gang name came from. Also, they just released a comic book with info about how he joined the Serpents, which is interesting. Is anyone at the Riverdale Con in NJ? I'm here! I was Alice Smith today (June 29) and will be a serpent tomorrow when I meet Jordan Connor!**


	12. Chapter 12

**So….I had to change things up because I hadn't realized that I skipped over Tallboys death. I'm adding it in now! Hope you enjoy!**

**Chapter Twelve**

"Do you think that Josie will actually take me seriously?" I ask Fangs, leaning back on the circle of the bunker. I lean my head back, trying to relax and take this opportunity to chill instead of worry about everything that is going on around us.

"Dude, you don't take her seriously," Fangs says.

"What?" I ask him, a little offended. He is sitting across from me in a chair. Tallboy is still knocked out in the chair across from him, his head tilted to the side and his eyes closed.

"You never took her out on a real date," he says. "Girls like to be pampered, especially Josie. She has a me complex and you did not feed into any of it."

"That's what worked with us for a while. We just enjoyed each other while we were around but then…I had feelings for her," I admit. It feels heavy to admit that but Fangs laughs, looking at me with confusion and then grinning and throwing his hands up.

"What? Seriously? You think you cared about her but if you really got to know her, you would not have liked her all that much," he says. "You two were so different. How would you have gotten along all the time? What would you have done together? Would you have taken her on your motorcycle? Would she respect it when you went off to fight for the Serpents? Or understood when you put her aside for us?"

I don't have an answer.

I shake my head, leaning down to look at my long fingers. Why does everything have to be so complicated? It wasn't. We had something so good and so casual for the longest time and then all of the sudden, she decided she had to go and that was it. She was gone and I had nothing. I have nothing. I was willing to give her more, to work with her, to listen to her. But maybe I don't even know how to do that.

"Do you think that you could have loved her?" Fangs asks.

When I don't answer, I think he is about to give me another question that I won't be able to handle. But then I hear Tallboy groan as he starts to wake up. He turns his head to sit straight up. He looks up at both of us, clearly confused.

"You two are my new guardians?" he asks. "Sweet Pea…how much does it bother you that Jughead got Serpent King? I mean how much does it make you itch that you have to sit around and listen to him? I bet he even made you his right hand, just so that you can take orders directly from him, the spot that everyone knew should have been yours."

"Shut it, Tallboy!" Fangs shouts. I seethe in my seat, trying so hard not to turn around and punch him in the face. I want to take him in my hands, make him hurt for being right. Of course it sucks that Jones is the King after I worked so hard to be loyal and honorable to the Serpents. Of course it sucks when I know that I was the one that was right for them, there for Mr. Jones and even for Jellybean while Jughead was off with Archie and Betty or running from his dad.

"Do you think that if Jughead wouldn't have stepped on your Serpent game, you would have been king? You could have had them all to yourself. You wouldn't have had to use them for all the reasons that Jughead did. He was the one that really drug them through the mud."

"Jughead does what he has to!" I shout. "He's a great leader!"

"Whoa! You are a loyal servant, aren't you?"

I stand up and take two long strides over to him. I lean down to his face, leaning my elbows on my knees with a grin on my face. I feel pride swell up in my chest for Jug and Betty.

"I bet you even follow his north side bitch too…our new pathetic queen. Don't you?" he asks.

I grab him around his throat, squeezing with one hand so tight that he is already choking on his own spit.

"Betty has been a great queen too. Jughead and Betty have made us honorable. They have given us purpose and reason. They are the reason that we are whole again. People like you are the reason that we break up. I'm glad to have Jughead and Betty and I'm glad that you will never be around the Serpents again," I tell him.

I let my hand down. He laughs but coughs a few times, trying to catch his breath. I grin at him before straightening back up. When I turn around, I hear a loud sound and then a grunt. I flip around as soon as I can to find Fangs with his head in his hand and Tallboys hands out of his bounds. He pushes himself from his chair and punches Fangs again. I run to Tallboy and punch him back, trying to grab his arms to pull them behind him. He pulls against me. Fangs and I struggle to tame him but it doesn't work. I kick the back of his legs to pull him back down to the chair. It works. He sits down in the chair and I try to get his arms behind him.

I push against his elbow until I have his one arm and Fangs goes for the other. Then he pushes himself back so the chair falls on the ground. He kicks my knee and then flips around, wrestling with Fangs. I limp over to grab him when I see Fangs with a gun to Tallboy.

"Don't!" I shout.

But it's too late.

Fangs pulls the trigger and Tallboy goes down.

It's so strange to see such a large man fall to the ground with almost no control of his own body, just crumpling, bleeding out and losing himself. I watch in horror as I realize that Fangs just shot a man and I think I helped him do it.

"Oh! Is he? Is he dead! Oh god! What do we do?" Fangs shouts all at once in a voice so panicked that I feel like he might jump out of his own skin. He still has the gun in his hand. He holds it, swinging it around as he panics through fear.

I can't think.

"What do we do? Sweet Pea! I think he's dead! Oh god!" Fangs shouts, touching his shoulder. He's trying to wake him up, shake him into getting up. I move over, getting Fangs and pulling him away.

"What's going on? I think he's dead!" Fangs says.

"Yes! He is! He's dead," I say. "Just stop talking and let me think for a second."

"He's dead!"

"Shut up, Fangs!" I shout.

"What do we do?" he asks.

I have no idea. There is only one more thing I can think of to do. If I were the king, I wouldn't know what to do, but maybe I would figure it out. Tallboy is right, I was mad about not being in charge. I always thought that I could show loyalty and courage as the king. But right now I don't feel like the king and maybe it is a good thing that I'm not.

"Jughead," I say. "Let's call Jughead."

**Hope you enjoyed this little bonus chapter. I figured I should have fit it in there somewhere. What did you guys think?**


	13. Chapter 13

**So I know I had Toni kind of hanging out with them. But now that time has passed, he's definitely over with Josie, Sweet Pea is going to have some new flings and obstacles to face. This chapter is an extension on the scene, as if it had continued, in "Dead Girl Walking" from Heathers episode. Yes, I used most of the lyrics as quotes, which I just did for Seventeen in "Bughead Love" fanfiction. **

***Go check out the chapter before this one. I added a new chapter as Chapter Twelve and made this one Chapter Thirteen***

**Hope you enjoy!**

**Chapter Thirteen.**

Toni come got me in tent city and told me to come here.

"I'm snapping off your window lock," she told me.

I figured it was some kind of rehearsal thing, or maybe even a Poisons and Serpents thing. No one will be here for hours but I never would have expected Toni, of all people, to pull me away from the trailer for a little dirty secret. I mean, I'm not complaining.

Then there is Peaches.

"Uh…Toni, Peaches, what's going on?" I ask, standing on stage in the school.

"Shh…" Toni says to me.

When I turn to Peaches she is already taking off her clothes. I watch as she strips down to nothing but underwear. She is not nearly as beautiful as Josie in my head. But then I am thinking about Josie, how I trusted her, how we were together and how I don't ever want to feel that awful loneliness again. But maybe I don't have to. I have so much on my mind all the time. What if I just let it all go for a little while and have some fun?

Toni turns back around, strutting in my direction. She watches as I take off my shirt and then rip my belt from my body. She gives me a sly grin and then winks. I wink back at her as I undo my pants, sending them to the ground. I look around. We are in such an open, lit space. If anyone walks in here they are going to know exactly what we are doing. Why don't I care? Toni turns to me with a grin on her face and pulls me close to her. She kisses me really hard on the mouth and the next thing I know I can feel Peaches behind me, holding onto my waist and kissing my neck.

Oh I could get used to this.

"Cheryl says I got to go," Toni whispers.

"And?" I ask her in a long breath as Peaches trails her tongue across my neck. Toni lifts up, trying to meet my gaze.

"Your my last meal on death row," she jokes, kissing down my stomach before she gets to…

Oh god.

I grab her hair. It doesn't last longer than a few seconds. I grunt when she pulls off of me and pull her hair harder. She looks up at me, pulling the rest of my clothes off. I turn around to find Peaches almost entirely naked and take her into my arms. We kiss for a long while. I don't think about anything but how good it feels to have someone taking care of exactly what I need and to return the favor. I know it is just a fling, and I am kind of glad that it is. But it will be so worth it.

"Shut your mouth and lose those tighty whiteys," Peaches says to me. I mean, they're blue boxers but whatever. I push them down, stepping out of my pants and then look back to Toni. She is standing, naked in front of both of us. We turn to her, grabbing and kissing. I kiss her neck, her back. I hold her from behind. I watch as she and Peaches kiss. They make out, their tongues intermingling and their bodies pressed against each other.

"Tonight I'm yours," Toni promises each of us, going back and forth between kissing her and kissing me. We do this for a long while, kissing, touching, moaning until finally, Toni turns to me with a sly grin and then back to the stage.

She looks between us.

"Let's make this beautiful," she says.

"That works for me," Peaches and I say at the same time.

We jump each other. Each one grabbing and touching and kissing so hard that I think I might have bruises.

Toni rolls out the stage bed and throws it into the center of the stage. We get on it. I am kneeling in the center between them.

"Let's break the bed," Toni says. I have never been more into anything in my life. I kiss her hard. She reaches down to touch me. I let her. I let them do whatever they want. I don't hold back the moans, the good feelings that flood through me, just like they don't hold back either. Toni throws her head back when both Peaches and I are on her at the same time. She groans our names and scratches down my shoulder.

"No sleep tonight for you," Toni says, leaning over me. She pushes me down to the bed so that I am laying back flat. Toni crawls over my body, turning me on so bad I think I might explode. She bites her lip as she starts kissing me all over. Peaches does the same thing. As Toni starts getting lower and lower, so does Peaches and then both girls are on me…

"Okay, okay," I say, almost panicked. I have never felt like this before in my life.

Toni lifts her head back up and turns to Peaches.

Toni gets on top of me and starts riding me. I groan, holding onto her hips and grab onto Peaches. I pull her closer so that we are kissing. I reach my hand down to her as we kiss and Toni is still on me.

"Make this whole town disappear," Toni begs of Peaches. Peaches reaches over to her. They start kissing and touching while Toni is still on me. But I can feel the building, the explosion that will happen soon. God it feels so fucking good.

It's driving me crazy.

Toni leans down and kisses me.

"Toni…I…" I grunt, trying to get across what I need to. But she puts her hand to my mouth as Peaches lays down, half on me and half touching Toni.

"No more talking," she says.

Peaches puts her hand around my arm while I touch her. Toni rides me feverishly. We do this for several minutes but soon I can't handle it much longer.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" It is a sea of all of us saying it together, like a chant. We can't stop moaning, feeling good, sharing everything with each other.

Peaches starts to feel her maximum amount of pleasure. She grips my arm really tight, digging her nails into my bicep.

"Ow!" I shout when she draws blood.

But then I feel the height of pleasure as Toni calls out, riding me. We all call out together, unable to control even one feeling.

"Yeah!"

***Check out Chapter Twelve for new content.***

**Was that insane or what? I know it was a bid of a side story for Sweet Pea. But he's upset about not being with Josie and overwhelmed with life so I figured he'd have some fun. He seems like he wouldn't mind being with pretty much any girl at this point, (which Jordan Connor actually said at Riverdale Con).**


	14. Chapter 14

**Sweet Pea is back in school and has a bit of a surprise from someone new… He is still trying to protect his sister from what is going on in Riverdale, confused about Fangs not being around and sad about Josie. But life goes on!**

**Question: What do you guys think of Alice and FP as teenagers AU story? LET ME KNOW about FALICE!**

**Chapter Fourteen**

School bores me to death, as always. I try not to think about much other than the work in front of me. It's not the easiest thing to do with Peaches giving me eyes every couple of classes. I don't know what her deal is with me. Ever since we sort of slept together, I mean not exactly, she has been looking at me weird. To be fair, she did see me naked. I guess that makes you look at a person differently.

I know I can never look at Josie the same way again.

"Sweet Pea!" Jughead says beside me. I look over. He is staring at me with a practically frantic look on his face. He looks at the teacher and I follow her gaze to the door.

"Sweet Pea," Weatherbee says.

"Uh, yes sir?" I ask.

"I'd like you to come with me," he says.

"Whatever it is, it probably wasn't me," I say.

"You aren't in any trouble," he says. "There is someone here that needs to see you right away."

I nod and stand up, grabbing my notebook.

"You good?" Jones asks me.

"Think so."

I follow Principal Weatherbee out the door and into the hall where he leads me back to his office. He said I wasn't in any trouble but taking me to his office sure does make me feel like that was a lie. By the time we get there, my nerves are wired. If he thinks he is going to pin something on me just because I am one f the rougher Serpents, he has anther thing coming!

We turn into the office and then I stop dead in my tracks.

A large, muscular man with tan skin, long dark slick hair and brown eyes stands before me. He is just as tall as I am, maybe a little taller. He has on a red flannel and jeans. His hands look dirty and his boots are tracking in mud. His hair is longer than mine. It falls right along the edge of his shoulders. It's black with streaks of silver grey throughout. I stare at him for what seems like forever because we are both coming to the same conclusion at the same time.

"Wow," he says with a smile that resembles the light Missy gets when she gets happy. "Look how big you've gotten."

I don't hesitate. I give him the pleasure of finishing his sentence before my hand forms into a fist and I punch him in his straight jaw line. He stumbles back, holding onto his face. He rubs his jaw and then looks back at me with a nod.

"Guess I deserved that," he says.

"You deserve this too!" I shout.

I punch him again, this time in the gut and then pull him over onto the ground behind him. He falls on a chair, pushing it to the ground. I can hear Weatherbee shouting at me but I am not listening. I have no idea what he is saying. I punch him again, trying to wrestle him down. He is not much bigger than me. I find out very quickly that I am a lot stronger than he is. I punch him again and again until blood flies from his mouth and onto my shirt and face.

"Stop it! Sweet Pea! Hey!" I hear another voice shout. It's not Weatherbee. It's a girls voice.

"Come on! Sweet Pea! Stop! Get off of him! Just get off!" she screams. I think it might even be two different girls voices. Finally, he stops fighting me off, trying to defend himself and just gives up. He lets me hit him as many times as I want. I feel a soft hand on my arm. She pulls me back. She is strong but I am much stronger. I try to wrestle her off but I don't want to hurt her. I feel another arm. Now both of them have their arms around me, pulling me off of him. I let them. I pull myself up to stand away from him. He pushes himself up, standing across from me with his hands down my his sides and blood coming from his mouth. He wipes it off on his shirt and then fixes his hair.

"You got rings on, kid," is all he says with a grin still on his face. "Good fight. I see the Serpents trained you well."

"Damn right they did," I say.

"Sweet Pea, you are about to be suspended for—" Weatherbee starts but then he just shakes his head.

"No, no," he says with a shake of his long hair. "Don't do that to him, Principal. This is between me and him. In all fairness, I probably deserved that too."

"And a lot more," I tell him, practically spitting I am so freaking mad. I turn to my side to find Toni and Betty holding onto my arms.

"I'll see you back at your place, kid," he says with a shake of his head and walks toward the door. I watch as he walks out, just like he always does, far away from his responsibilities and life.

"Go back to class," Weatherbee says. "And calm the hell down! Betty, as the leader of his prospective gang, I suggest you keep him in line!"

"On it, Principal Weatherbee," she says.

I follow the girls out of the office and back into the hallway. Betty crosses her arms over her chest as she stares up at me. Toni is looking at her. They both look pretty frustrated with me though.

"Really, Sweet Pea?" she asks.

"I know. I know. But he deserved it. You have no idea how bad of an ass that guy is," I tell her.

"Okay. Could you have taken it outside? Could you have waited and not done that in front of the principal?" she asks.

She's not mad about me hitting him. She's just mad that I could get into more trouble at school. It's almost like she's concerned for me. She know that more trouble means no school, means not graduating with everyone else. I try not to smile.

"You worried about me, Cooper?" I ask. She looks a little shocked. I try not to react to it.

"Sweet Pea, do you think you can handle not hitting anyone on the way to class?" she asks.

I nod.

"We don't know the whole story, Betty," Toni says.

Betty turns to me with her arms still crossed.

"Who even was that guy anyway?" she asks.

I look over my shoulder at the closed school doors with dread filling my gut. He knows where I live. I don't know how he found out but he said he would be back at my place when I got there. This is not over. Not even close. If I am going to get him back out of my life, I am going to have to tell the Serpents. I might need their help.

"My dad," I say. "That guy was my dad."

**OOOOhhh. A new character for Sweet Pea…So guys…What do you think about a FALICE TEEN AU? Let me know!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Sweet Pea has to deal with his dad being back in town. Question: What do you think his dad did that was so bad?**

**Chapter Fifteen**

"Don't worry about her," Toni says after Betty walked away, back toward her class.

"I kind of have to," I say. "Considering she makes a lot of the decisions."

"Aren't you Jughead's right hand?" she asks.

I nod with a shrug, folding my arms over my chest when I look down at her. I am much taller than Toni. I can see her entire body. I can see the black outline of her bra through her mesh top. I can see the perfect roundness of her boobs as she crosses her arms underneath of them.

"Yeah," I manage to say, realizing that I am totally staring at her. She doesn't seem to care or maybe she is just ignoring it. "But Betty is his girlfriend too so who do you think has the last say? He sleeps with her. Nothing gets between a guy and that."

"True enough," Toni says.

"Sometimes she drives me crazy," I say, throwing my hand through my hair. I watch as Toni shifts on her feet, leaning one of her hips out to the side and showing me her beautifully smooth thighs.

"To be fair, she does have a lot to deal with. You know, her mom is marrying a cult leader. Her sister and her niece and nephew are actually in the cult. Her best friend just got out of jail, her boyfriend's family just moved into her old house and she's trying to lead a gang that is slowly being ripped apart by the gargoyles," Toni says with a shrug.

"Well when you put it like that," I say with a short laugh. She laughs with me. I look down the hall to find it empty. I should really get back to class but then Toni bats those super long eyelashes and flicks her hair from the side of her face.

"We should get back," I say.

"Yeah," she agrees.

I don't think before I speak. I just say it all at once before I back out. I have to know.

"Are you still with Cheryl?" I ask.

"Yeah," she says.

I nod and turn back toward the hallway, trying to walk past her. She gets in my way, standing right in front of me. I don't try to walk around her. I stand right in front of her. Her head is almost touching my chest. She leans back just a little so that she can see my face.

"Did you want something?" she asks.

"It was stupid," I admit.

"What was it?"

"Like I said, it was dumb," I tell her. I try to walk around her but she puts her hand on my chest. Slowly, she pushes my flannel out of the way until it is past my shoulder and then she puts her hand on my chest, right under the rim of my shirt, sending chills all the way down my back. I bite my lower lip as she tilts her head to the side.

"I said I was with Cheryl," she says. "And I don't want to be with you, Sweet Pea."

She starts to walk away, sending a large amount of confusion through me. I walk behind her, thinking of how to argue or what to say but as she reaches the girls locker room, she turns around with a flip of her long hair, grinning. Toni beckons me toward it. I jog after her, following her into the room.

"I thought you said you didn't want me," I say.

"I don't," she says with a shrug. "But clearly, you need to release some tension and well…I don't want you but we do."

Cheryl walks out from behind some lockers.

"Am I being set up?" I ask.

Cheryl shakes her head, biting her thick red lip. She turns over to Toni with a smile and they kiss: a really long and deep kiss. I step closer to them without even thinking. Toni lets me put my hand to her back as I watch them kiss. I press myself against Cheryls back, which makes her moan against Toni's mouth.

"So?" Toni says toward me with a grin.

"Oh, it's so on," I agree.

Toni and Cheryl kiss again. I press myself against Cheryl and start taking off her clothes from the back. I push them off and then push off my own, taking off my shirt and watching as Toni unbuckles my pants and pushes them around my ankles. I step out of them and watch as Cheryl takes Toni's clothes off. I kiss her neck, grazing my lips down her side. I run my hands through Cheryl's long hair, pulling her close to me. She grinds on me as she takes Toni's clothes off. She dances herself along me until she turns around, switching places with Toni.

Toni turns around, pulling her hair to the side.

"What are you waiting for, Sweet Pea?" she whispers.

Fifteen minutes later, I am pulling my pants up and panting heavily. Cheryl is fixing her hair in the mirror and Toni is clipping her bra back on. It takes me a few seconds to catch my breath, wipe the sweat from my face and remember that I am in school. Then reality comes back pretty fast. I have to deal with my father and my sister again. Plus, if the Serpents find out about this, they are not going to be happy with me. Betty actually might not care. But Fangs would make fun of me, if he would ever pay attention to me anymore.

"I have to say," Cheryl says, fixing her lipstick in the mirror. "That was pretty fun."

"Told you it would be, babe," Toni says with a grin.

I decide not to say anything at all. I don't need to. I think they know I had plenty of fun with that. And I am also pretty sure that will never happen again. I nod toward the door. Toni gives me a grin.

"Oh," Cheryl says, turning around with her hand up to her side. "It should go without saying…if you tell anyone about this—"

"You'll poison me and feed me to your fish," I say. "I got it. No need to kiss and tell."

Cheryl winks at me and then I turn to leave. I don't bother going back to class. I know that Jones is going to figure out that I was with a girl and I don't feel like lying to him right now. I could just go to the cafeteria and wait but then I'd have to deal with the questions from the rest of the Serpents. I might as well just go back to my trailer and face the music. I will have to at some point.

I get on my motorcycle, fixing my jacket as I sit down and rev the engine before pulling off.

**Well that was crazy. Question: What do you think his dad did that was so bad?**


	16. Chapter 16

**Sweet Pea goes back to his trailer to talk to his dad about what has been going on and why he is angry with him. How will Missy deal with all of this?**

**Chapter Sixteen**

I rush off my bike and into my trailer. I find my dad sitting on my sofa with a notebook in his hands.

"Give that back!" I shout, taking it from his hands. It's just a notebook from English in school. But I don't need him going through my stuff. Who knows what he will steal or try to make fun of me for? He can find anything and turn it into a negative.

"What the hell are you doing here? How did you even find me?" I ask him.

"I haven't seen you in ten years and this is how you treat me?" he asks.

"Yeah! Ten years!" I shout. "It's been ten years! Do you have any idea what I have had to do to make everyone else forget about everything that you did to them?"

"Everyone else?" he asks, as if he has no idea that there are other people that we are related to.

"Um…Aces, Missy, Mom!" I say back. Everything that I am saying is coming out in a scream. I don't know how to talk to him without screaming anymore. I am too angry to come across without screaming. If I don't yell at him, I will probably hurt him. I will probably punch him again. He still has a bit of the blood on his face and on his shirt.

"Right," he says. "I heard about your mother. That's actually why I'm here. I thought I'd pay my respects."

I feel fire boiling up inside of me. I feel it start to overflow. I feel it in the pit of my stomach, falling out into my intestines and gut. I can feel it growing, poisoning my entire body. My hands are starting to shake. My head hurts at the corner of my temple. My feet feel like cement, planted exactly where they are forever.

"She overdosed!" I shout. "She was a drug addict! But you wouldn't know that because you left right after Aces did. You figured that after Aces was successful enough to leave the house, you could just be done."

"I have no excuse," he says with a shrug. He doesn't even care that I am angry with him. "I didn't want a family and your mother did. I just wanted to ride the roads, be a free man. Don't you feel like you want that? Just get on your bike and never look back?"

I shrug, looking down at my feet, feeling the anger ebb away from me slowly, slipping out of my fingers and dribbling down my chest. It hurts as it leaves but it's a good pain.

"Sure," I admit but then I look up and stand tall and strong. "I left mom when I realized that she was never going to get better. Missy refused to go with me so I left her there and I joined the Serpents. They've taken care of me and I take care of them."

"Clearly," he says with a nod and a short laugh. "That blonde bitch that pulled you off of me, she was wearing a Serpent jacket. I saw her scold you in the hallway. Is she your girl?"

"What? No. She's the Serpent Queen."

"What?" he says with a laugh. "She's in charge? That high class, up tight bitch is in charge of you? My rough and tough son? Ha! That's pathetic! What a joke of a gang!"

I grab him by his shirt collar and hold him up to my face.

"That girl saved our asses more than once. She's just as tough as the rest of us. You say that again and you're going to have problems with the entire gang. I don't think you'd like that, Pops," I tell him. "Call her a bitch. One. More. Time."

He shakes his head so I let him back down to the ground, letting go of his collar. He looks pretty surprised. He fixes his dark shirt and then folds his arms over each other.

"You still wearing Aces dog tags?" he asks.

I nod.

"He was a good kid," he says. "He always did the right thing. He always wanted to help people, save people, make the world a better place. I guess I figured that if I could raise him, then I could raise more the same way."

"I don't give a shit," I say.

"Missy might want to know," he says with a shrug.

"Probably not. You left when she was five. She has no idea who you are," I say.

"Is she a Serpent too?"

"Yeah."

There is a long pause of silence. I want to yell at him again. I want to demand that he leave but part of me wants to know why he came, what he really wants to tell me, why he left us and never came back, why I basically never knew anything about him.

"So you said you were proud of Aces. Why not us? Why did you leave us?" I ask him.

He looks down at his shoes.

"I thought I was done. I thought that I had done my time with Aces and your mom could handle you two better than I could," he says. That is his real reason. He doesn't have another one. He just left because he felt like it. He just left because he couldn't be bothered with the extra trouble.

"Eh, you seem to be doing fine without me," he says, looking around at my trailer. "This all yours?"

"Yeah," I tell him. "Once mom died, Missy started living here too."

"Definitely looks more like a bachelor pad," he says. "You should hide your condoms better, kid."

"Shut up, Pops," I tell him. "Don't look around my trailer and don't steal my shit. I know what you do for a living."

"What's that?" he demands.

"You steal. You pretend you're homeless. You go to jail when you're caught," I say. "You have no quality of life."

He laughs, looking over at me again.

"And you do?"

"I just had a threesome with a gang leader and the most popular girl in school so yeah…I'm doing pretty alright," I tell him. He shrugs, looking back at my nightstand. He picks up a picture there. Aces, me and Missy. It's the only picture we have all together since Missy was so young when he left for the army.

"You three really are something," he says. He puts the picture back down and then looks over at me with an expression that I can't read.

"Where is mom buried?" he asks.

I roll my eyes.

"Only graveyard in Riverdale," I tell him.

"You still want to hit me?" he asks.

I shake my head.

"No. It wouldn't matter. You don't even know why I hit you in the first place, do you?" I ask.

"Because I left."

I give him a sad, short laugh.

"No," I say. "I didn't hit you because you left. I hit you because you never came back."

"I'm here now, aren't I?"

"No, Pops. It's too late now."

I feel sadness wash over me and I suddenly want to be alone before it hits me harder.

"For you?" he asks.

I shake my head.

"For mom."

**Aw…a lot of emotions being thrown around here. It is clear that Sweet Pea just acts out whatever he feels, which is mostly anger, annoyance and rage. Next up: How will Missy deal with her father coming back? A man that she never knew.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Sweet Pea is back in rehearsal for the musical. Supposedly, he and Josie are the ones to sing "Seventeen", so this is him practicing and feeling overwhelmed with his dad in town and taking care of Missy.**

**Chapter Seventeen**

I lean against the stage, standing on the floor with the sheet music in my hands. Last night, I found out that Jughead's mother brought drugs back into Riverdale and she is the new kingpin of it all. Of course, Jones is devastated because he really wanted to bring his family back together. I can relate. Turns out my old pops running into town just about the time that fizzle rocks and jingle jangle made a reappearance is no coincidence.

I am sure he has something to do with it.

I haven't told Missy yet because she can't deal with that. She can't handle both of her parents wanting something else more than her. Or maybe I can't handle it and that's why I don't want to tell her.

"Hey! Earth to Sweet Pea!" Josie says, waving her hand in front of my face. She puts her hand to my shoulder then, shaking my entire body. I step away from her, realizing that I was supposed to be rehearsing. Instead, I have been sitting here with confusion, getting lost in thoughts about my dad, Mrs. Jones, Missy and everything else.

"Are you okay?" Kevin asks. "You looked…"

"Harrowed," Josie finishes.

"Great. Thanks," I say, rolling my hand down my face and then through my greasy hair. I push myself off of the stage and flip around, jumping up onto the stage. I have to shake this feeling that my dad is going to hurt Missy or me. I have to get it all off of my chest so that I can feel as close to normal as I ever was.

"Let's just do the damn song," I mumble.

"Okay. Let's remember that this is the heart of the musical. We finally get to see the bad boy show a little emotion. He wants to be Seventeen, free, just like everyone else and he is going to show that intense emotion with her," he says.

Great. Now I have to be intentionally emotional with Josie. I have been trying to avoid showing her how much I want her recently and I think I have been doing a good job. But now? I have to do it on purpose on stage. This is going to freaking suck.

"Josie, your character is longing for him to feel these things as well. You want him to loosen up, to let you in and in doing that, you are asking the toughest kid in school to be emotional around you, to share his burdens. This will mean that you two are having an extremely intimate and precious moment," he says.

Wow. This just gets worse and worse. Intimate and precious moment? Share my burdens? I would love to shout out to the world that I have problems that I don't feel like fixing. I would love to share that with Josie. But she pushed me away, leaving me alone and vulnerable to people that I hate.

"Fine," I say with a shrug.

"Let's do this," Josie says.

The song starts to play and I drop the sheet music to the stage. I remember the words. I just don't want to sing to Josie about letting me in and showing her my emotions when I tried that and she pushed me away. Josie rolls her shoulders back and then starts singing the first back. I just watch her without expression for the first part.

"I could be good with you," she sings.

I think I am supposed to be upset or emotional at this point. Instead, I just start singing, not even looking at Josie.

"People hurt us," I sing.

"Or they vanish."

"And you're right, that really blows," I sing in a deep voice, not even bothering to look over at Josie.

"Stop! Stop!" Keven shouts. He walks up onto the stage with his hands behind his back.

"This is not working," he says. "I need to see emotions. I need to see Josie begging Sweet Pea to let her in, to share his burdens. And I need to see Sweet Pea sharing his emotions because he is so filled with hate and sadness that he has to share it with someone else. I need to see a connection between the pair of you."

I roll my eyes.

"That's just not gonna happen, Kevin," Josie says.

"Excuse me," Evelyn says, putting her hands up and stepping between us. "If there is anything we know about you two it is that you used to be together. There must be some sort of connection left between the two of you."

"I guess," Josie says.

I look to her, trying to think of anything that I can say in front of these people but come up with nothing.

"Sweet Pea, what do you want to say to Josie?" Evelyn asks. There is something trusting about the way she asks it. I look right into Josie's eyes and say what I have wanted to for so long.

"You broke my heart."

Before my voice cracks and my body with it, I walk off. I find a small dressing room to hide in for a few minutes. I don't even bother getting angry or punching something because I know it will just hurt me more than it will hurt her. And I want her. I want her to trust me, be with me and just make me feel better while I am surrounded by all of this madness with my father.

"Sweet Pea!" Josie says on the other side of the door. I put my head against it, leaning down but don't respond.

"Sweet Pea, come on. Open the door and come sing with me," she says. I can hear her frustration in her voice. She doesn't want to talk about what I just said because it was too much for her. Our relationship was too much for her. She can't handle being with someone completely and maybe I can't either. Maybe I am needy and maybe I do feel like I need to be close with someone, that I can trust them more than anything. But I have the Serpents. I just wanted something even closer than that. And she gave me nothing.

"No," I tell her.

"Sweet Pea, I'm sorry," she says. "I wasn't ready for what you wanted. That's on me, not you. It had nothing to do with you. I wanted to be with you but I am not ready for a real relationship and you deserve someone who is ready for what you are asking."

I wait for what I want to hear. The first thing I do is open the door and stare at her. I wait for a long moment. Josie stares back at me and then rolls her eyes, putting her arms over her chest.

"I'm sorry for breaking your heart," she says. "I never meant that. I did like you. I never wanted to hurt you."

"Okay," I say with a nod. "Let's go sing."

If I can't be with her or have her, at least I can sing with her. Maybe she really didn't meant to hurt me. Maybe I don't need to worry about being with anyone right now. I just need to sing, get this right, protect the cast of the musical like Jones told me and that'll be it.

I turn back to Josie, walking with her to the stage. I don't say a thing. Kevin looks annoyed and then he plays the song. We start over, staring into each other's eyes as I pretend I have no feelings for the beautiful woman across from me.

**What are some scenes you want to see extended? Or something about Sweet Pea you want to know? Let me know!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Missy finds out that her dad is in town. Also, we find out why Sweet Pea is called that. Jordan Connor said he suspects it was a childhood nickname that made sense for him because he is kind and it just stuck. He also says he fights it really hard because while he is tough, he has a sweet side and would rather people see him as angry.**

**Chapter Eighteen**

I rush into the trailer to find Missy with a big grin on her face. She turns to me with a laugh and throws her hands together.

"I wanted to tell you this all day! You should have seen this funny thing that happened this afternoon when I was with Toni. We were in tent city when Tonsils said—" she starts but I put my hand up to stop her. She looks confused and a little hurt that I am not interested in her story.

"I have to tell you something, Missy," I say.

She looks at me with concern and then crosses her arms over her small chest, worrying me. She always puts up such a front.

"Did somebody else die?" she asks.

"No."

"What is it then?"

I look around the trailer, looking for a way out of this and then go back to her.

"Dad. Dad's here in Riverdale and he wants to talk to you," I blurt out. Missy's face looks totally shocked. She presses her lips together and looks down at the floor. I stand there, waiting for a reaction but I never get one. She continues to look down at the ground.

"So…" I say. "Do you need me to beat him up and get him the hell out of here or what?"

She shakes her head.

"It's fine," she says with a sniffle. A pang of fear shoots through my body when I realize that she's crying. I reach down and wrap my arms around her. At first, Missy resists me but after that she lets me hold her to my much taller and bigger body. I hug her close for several seconds and then lean over and kiss her forehead. I keep holding her there until she stops crying.

"Why are you so upset?" I ask her.

"Because that means that you'll leave again," she says.

"What?" I ask, pulling away from her. I kneel down to her level, holding onto both of her shoulders as I look at her, begging her for answers.

"When he showed up last time, he yelled at mom and you and then you left to come here to Riverdale."

"I'm not going anywhere," I say. "I don't even know what you're talking about. I don't remember Dad being there the day I left."

Missy looks confused. Her dark eyebrows pull in and her mouth turns to an open expression. I remember leaving. I remember trying to convince Missy that she should come with me and that she would be safer with me. I remember my mom telling me to get the hell out and that she didn't need me anymore. I remember her telling me that I look like Aces.

"He was there before you left. He was there to yell at mom and tell her that she was a terrible parent and to tell me that I better watch my back or I'd end up just like her. Are you going to leave again? Now that he's here," she asks with so much worry she almost reminds me of a little kid again.

"No. No. Of course not. I had no idea that he was there that day and I didn't leave because of him. I'm so sorry that you thought that. I promise I'm not going anywhere," I tell her. Missy looks over at me with a small smile and gives me a confident nod. Finally, I feel like I can breathe again. I squeeze her hand and look down at my shoe, feeling the pain of her confusion ebb away.

The door slams open and I jump up, throwing Missy behind me and holding my fists up.

My father stands in front of both us, looking surprised. I keep Missy behind me as he walks into my trailer. He looks around and puts his hands on his hips. His long hair is still greasy and he is wearing the same clothes he was the other day. He smells horrible and walks around with a strange authority I could never understand.

"This is your place?" he asks.

"Yes," I say. "And I don't remember inviting you in."

"I came to see Missy," he says.

"Fine. Let's go outside."

I wait for him to walk back out of my trailer and stand outside before I tug Missy along behind me, closing the door behind us both.

"You need to get the hell out of here. We didn't ask for you to be here," I say. He gives off a short laugh and looks over my shoulder. Missy walks around my shoulder even when I try to grab her and pull her back. She shrugs off my hand and stands a few feet from me, staring at the man that made her lose so much.

"Ah…Melissa," he says. "It's been a long time since I've seen you. You and I have a lot to talk about."

"My name is Missy."

"Are you a Serpent like your brother?" he asks.

"Yes," she says. "They protect me."

"Yeah and I'm the king's right hand man so if you think you're gonna do anything funny, I would think again. In case you haven't noticed, I'm a big guy and I've got a lot of other big guys to back me up," I defend. My father lets out a short laugh and shrugs, throwing his arms over his chest as he chuckles. At first I don't understand and I think that he is just crazy but then he steps close to me and clears his throat.

"Your default emotion was always anger," he says, shaking his head. "That was until there was any kind of woman involved. Your mother. Your sister. Your crushes. Your friends. You've always had a sweet side and your fault is with your loyalty."

"What?" I ask, throwing my arms over my chest. I stare at him when he doesn't give me another answer. He thinks he knows so much about me but he's wrong. He has to be.

"Why do you think we call you Sweet Pea?" he asks.

"Because I'm not Satan like you," I say with a shrug. He shakes his head, chuckling again and really pissing me off. I clench my hands into fists as I stare at him, really trying not to hit him.

"We call you Sweet Pea because you've always been soft," he says. "Sure, you put on an angry front because your parents didn't love you and you lost your brother as a kid. But behind all of that was always this soft, lonely kid that just wanted someone to love him. That's probably why you don't know how to love anyone the real way."

"That was your fault! Not mine!" I shout. "It's not my fault I wasn't loved! That was on you!"

He shakes his head.

"Who cares? People like you and me will never be capable of that kind of feeling," he says.

"I am nothing like you!" I shout, stepping toward him, throwing my arms to my sides. I am going to hit him in the next two minutes if he doesn't get out of here.

"You are everything like me! The only thing that isn't like me is that you are weak when it comes to people. You, _Sweet Pea _are softer than any woman you've ever known. No wonder you can't get a damn date," he says, shaking his head.

"Shut the hell up. I am not soft."

"You left because you're weak and you couldn't stand to watch your mother deteriorate into nothing. You left because you were too loyal to take Missy away from your mom and you stay now because you're too loyal to those damn Serpents," he says, almost spitting at me. "Oh, and by the way…everyone knows you're in love with your Serpent Queen. But you're too weak to do anything about it."

I'm not too weak to do anything about that. In fact, it's the opposite. I'm strong enough to stay away because I know that she loves Jug and they were meant to be. I would never tear that apart no matter what I feel.

"Sweet Pea's loyalty doesn't make him weak!" Missy shouts, standing in front of me, though I can still see clearly over her head. "His devotion to girls doesn't make him weak either. He's kind and caring and compassionate. He's loyal because he's always willing to fight for those that he cares about. And he cares so seriously about so many people. That's why he gets angry…because he feels alone or because someone is threatening his people."

"He is a better man than you will ever be," I hear behind my father. I look over his shoulder to find Betty, Jughead, Toni, Jinx and Tonsils are walking over in their Serpent jackets with a confident expression. Each one of them are staring at me and Missy.

"You have no idea who Sweet Pea is," Jughead says.

"He might have gotten his name from having a soft side," Betty says. "But that is a part of him that we all love."

I clench my eyes shut for a long moment, biting my lower lip until the pain of hearing her say that goes away. When I open them and look back up, they are all defending me.

"He is one of us," Jinx says. "And always has been. The Serpents are a home. Our home. But you wouldn't know that."

"We like his anger. It gets stuff done when no one else can," Jughead says. "He's trustworthy. I trust him and that's why he is the second best man in the Serpents."

I try not to smile. I give him a thankful nod instead. Finally, Betty walks over to my father with Missy not far from her.

"You aren't welcome here," she says. "This is Serpent territory. I suggest we leave…before we make you."

My father gives a little chuckle and then raises his eyebrows.

"What did I tell you?" he says. "So weak she doesn't even know what you feel and everyone else around you does. You're pathetic."

"At least I have people who love me and something to stand for. You have nothing, not even kids anymore. Get out of here."

My father turns with a nonchalant expression and leaves.

**What do you think about Sweet Pea loving Betty? I don't think they would ever be in a full relationship but I do think that he cares about her. What about you?**


	19. Chapter 19

**Jughead and Sweet Pea hash it out when Jughead realizes that Sweet Pea was more into Betty than he thought.**

**Chapter Nineteen.**

After my dad leaves, Missy rushes over to me, wrapping her arms around my body. I hug her back, holding her tight as our father walks away, taking a hit of his cigarette. I watch until he is long gone and then look back at the others who are now dispersing. Many of them are walking back to their own tents or trailers.

Missy lets go with a grin and slaps my arm.

"Nice work," she says with a grin. "Never have to deal with that guy again. But I guess that means I'm staying with you permanently now."

I don't know how to tell her that I have no idea how to take care of her or what I would do with her if I did. I'm in high school and when I get out, she'll still be here. She can't just hang out here alone with the Serpents for the next couple of years before she graduates. She needs more stability than that.

"I don't know about that, Missy," I say.

"What?" she asks, shocked. She throws her arms over her chest and leans back, looking angry.

"I don't know if I can take care of you by myself forever," I say. "You deserve a lot more than a brother who kicks you out of his trailer every time he has a date or can only get you to school by driving you on his bike. Missy, I'm not your dad."

"You can't just kick me out!" she shouts, throwing her arms down. That is not how I thought this conversation is going to go.

"No! No! That's not what I meant! I just mean that you and I can't live like this forever. You deserve a real house with real food and a real family. We can find that for you. We just need a little time. But you'll be with me until we figure that out."

"I don't want to go anywhere else!" Missy screams.

"Hey! Missy!" Betty says, jogging over to us. I watch as she rushes to my sister and gets down on her level.

"You can stay here with the Serpents until we figure out a better place for you but your brother is right. You really need a better place to stay, Missy," Betty explains.

"Like where?"

"Like," Jughead says, walking in front of me. "Like a foster family. The one that I was going to go to was really nice and they were a pretty chill. You could still hang out with us and see your brother. I'm sure we could work it out."

"Work it out? Why can't I just stay here?" she begs.

"Missy," I say, feeling a hallow hole in my chest. I squeeze my hands together as I look at the others, trying to think of some reason I can give her other than the fact that I am not good enough.

"Because I'm not your father and I'm not your mother. It's not fair to either of us for me to raise you. You need someone better than me and I need to not worry about you all day every day. I'm not ready for that, Missy," I say.

"Come on, Missy," Jughead says. "You have to understand. I'm a big brother too. We were never meant to take care of our little sisters."

Missy stamps her foot on the ground but doesn't say anything. She gives a loud sigh before stomping away, back to the trailer where she throws herself inside and slams the door behind her. I jump when she does and then stand completely still, just staring over at the trailer. I don't know what to say or do so I just stand completely still.

"Sweet Pea?" Jughead says.

I turn to him.

"Yeah?"

"You okay?"

"That was intense," Betty says, standing up and walking over to stand with us. She has to look up to look at my face. She crosses her arms over her Serpent jacket.

"I had no idea your family was so—" Jughead starts.

"Messed up?" I ask. "Yeah. My dad's a bastard. My mom's dead because she overdosed. My brother was missing in action and presumed dead. My sister has a hero complex and my father knew me for all of two days and he figured out my entire life."

"Not everything," Betty says, shaking her head. She puts her hand on my arm in a good, kind gesture. Part of me wants to jump away from her because I don't want anyone to touch me. But part of me wants to lean closer to her and beg her to keep her hand there, to move her hand closer, to keep touching me like that.

"Yeah," I say, pulling away from her. "Pretty much everything."

I look to Jughead now. He is looking between Betty and me and then drops his arms from his chest, looking vulnerable when he raises his eyebrows at me.

"I'm guessing you heard that," I say.

"Yeah, Sweet Pea," Jug says. "We heard it."

I run my hand down my face and turn to Betty, feeling my hands shake. I shove them in my pockets and swallow hard.

"Betty, I would never get in between you and Jug," I tell her. "I was never even going to tell either of you anything about it. It was just a feeling. They pass all the time."

Neither of them say anything so I gone, awkwardly.

"Jones, I swear I wasn't gonna do anything about it and I didn't tell you because I thought that would just be weird. But I can't control it and I don't want you to think that—"

"Sweet Pea!" Jughead says, throwing his hands out.

I stay silent.

"It's fine, man," he says. "I get it. Betty's amazing and you guys are friends. It's not like I couldn't have guessed. I just didn't like to hear it. But I'm not angry with you."

I give him a short nod. It's all I can manage.

"If you need anything, just let us know," Betty says as she starts to walk away, putting her hand to mine for a brief and painfully short moment. I glance at her, watching her walk back toward tent city.

"Hey, Sweet Pea," Jones says. "Just so we're clear, if you hit on her, I'm gonna kill you."

"I got it," I assure him. "I'll leave her alone."

He nods.

"I trust you."

Just before he walks away, he turns back around with his hand up.

"I was serious about that couple in the South Side. They'd love Missy. I'll get you my social worker," he says.

"Actually," I say. "If I talk to a social worker, they'll try to put me in a home too. No one knows that my parents aren't here."

"Oh," Jones says, seeming to think twice about it. "Then I can just get Missy in contact with her then. She'll never have to know about you."

"Thanks, Jones," I say as he walks back toward his trailer where Betty is already waiting for him.

"Thanks," I mutter to myself. "For breaking my heart all over again."

**How was it? I think I'm gonna do a flashback so we can explore the Serpent dance from Sweet Pea's perspective.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Serpent Dance flashback. Sweet Pea is dreaming of when he saw Betty do the Serpent dance and what would have happened if she weren't with Jughead.**

**Someone requested this so I hope you enjoy.**

**Chapter Twenty.**

When Betty starts to pull her shirt off, I wonder what the hell she is doing. But then I watch as her buttons spring loose and her shirt goes to floor, revealing a sexy, black piece of lingerie that makes me swallow hard. Jughead looks confused, almost pissed off.

I tried not to look at her when she came in but there is an innocence about her that is irresistible. She wants to know so much more than she does. Sure, she's innocent but what I see as she dances up on that stage, taking off her skirt and moving her body like a perfect, sexy snake, is that she wants more than what Jughead is willing to give her. He wants to protect her from all of this. We never see Betty around here and yet it's clear that he likes her.

Betty craves darkness and I crave a caregiver. I think we can give each other what we want.

When I look over at Jughead, he does not look pleased. In fact, he looks horrified, as if he's actually angry with her for doing the serpent dance and becoming one of us. I'm five seconds from being turned on and Jughead looks like he wants to rip her off that stage and scream at her or run away and cry. What a bitch. If I had a beauty like that, I'd cherish her. In fact, I think I will.

When she stops singing, she shakes her hips one last time and I watch as she looks directly at Jughead, having no idea that I am looking at her.

"Let's give her a round of applause! Give her some of that Serpent hospitality we're known for!" FP shouts to us. I clap for her, shouting loudly as she steps off the stage with a Serpent jacket around her shoulders. If she wants it, she's a serpent now. Technically, she did the one thing that she had to, to become one. She is one of us.

Betty walks back down and over to Jughead where she stands beside him, fighting off her mother and listening to FP as he does everything he said he wouldn't do. I cheer because this means that I get to keep my job and work as closely with him as I ever have. But then it's over and I watch as Betty runs from the room with disappointment all over her face. Suddenly I feel something different toward her. I want to help her.

I run after her when I see her arguing with Jughead. He looks upset but she is the one that is crying. He made her cry. After she did that to show him that she needed more, that she was willing to be a part of the serpents for him, he turned her down and then made her cry. Jughead throws himself back into the Whyte Wyrm, having no idea that I am not far behind him. I turn from the side of the building, seeing Betty with tears on her cheeks, staring off at the building and probably hoping that Jughead will come out of it. Instead, I get the courage, strangely, to walk over.

One painful foot drag after the other and I am standing right in front of her, shoving my hands into my pockets so that I can get out the next words without stuttering at her beauty or bravery.

"Sweet Pea, what do you want?" she asks, annoyed, pushing the tears from her face. I grab her hand and pull it back down. She looks shocked but lets me take her hand away from her cheek.

"I saw Jones," I say. "He never should have hurt you. What you did was brave and pretty sexy, by the way."

"Thanks," she says, giving me the honor of a small smile. I made her smile. That was me. Not Jones. He made her cry but I made her smile because I care about her, enough to let her explore that darkness that Jughead is trying to suppress.

"Jones was wrong. He doesn't understand. But I do. Sometimes that darkness needs to be explored and this is your way of trying to tell him that. He's too afraid to admit that it might be better for you to be one of us," I say. I want to tell her that he is a bitch but decide she won't respond well to that and I so desperately want her to respond well to me. "But after what you just did, you are one of us, Betty, if you want the spot."

She looks past me and toward the building, clearly looking for Jughead but then looks back with sadness and disappointment. It is so clear to me that she is lost and needs help. I can provide that if she'll let me. She'd never have to worry about fitting in with me.

"Jughead doesn't want me. He made that clear," she says, giving a horribly short laugh in her choked and tight voice.

"But I do," I blurt out.

I don't know where my confidence came from in this moment. I have no idea why I am leaning toward her right now, trying to get close to her. I have no idea why she is not pulling away and telling me to get lost. But finally, when I lean close enough, Betty puts her hands on my arms. Her hands are soft and small as they wrap around my forearms and she leans up on her tip toes.

"Are you sure?" I ask her.

"I've never been more sure."

And we are kissing. It's a long, hot kiss that I have waited for for months. It is a passionate and neurotic kiss. I wrap my arms around her small frame and kiss her feverishly, pulling her body against mine and opening my mouth to her warm lips. I don't know how long we kiss. It could be minutes of kissing like this. Her hand goes to my hair and I encompass her entire body in my strong, long arms. Our bodies respond to each other naturally, holding the other person until our lips are numb from kissing. After I don't know how long, Betty pulls away and bites her lower lip, no longer looking worried or tearful. Instead, she gives me a small and hopeful smile.

"Sweet Pea," she says, waking me up.

When I wake up, I am sweating and flush. Shit, it was a freaking dream that whole time. I had her right there in my arms and it was a dream. I've dreamed it before and it always ends with me being able to feel her and then forgetting all of it.

I can't be alone right now. It hurts too much to be alone. I stand up and throw my shirt on, walking out of my trailer and across the small field before reaching tent city. A few of the other serpents are still awake, sitting around a small fire.

"You look like hell," Jynx says.

"I know," I say, giving him a shrug.

A motorcycle pulls up to the trailer right next to us. Betty gets off of it, throwing her helmet down and swinging her sexy legs over the bike. She gives me a smile when she sees me, waving in my direction.

I want to grab her, hug her and tell her that I want more than just a crush but then she turns back to Jones's trailer and knocks. I can't help it. I watch as Jones comes to the door in nothing more than his boxers and grabs Betty around her waist before slamming the door behind her. I don't stay to think about, or hear, what they're definitely doing.

I hop on my own bike and ride my feelings away.

**Hope you enjoyed!**


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